Blocking the Iron Transport Could Stop Tuberculosis:
"The transport protein, which is located in the bacterial membrane, is essential for the survival of the pathogens. If IrtAB is absent or not functioning, M. tuberculosis can no longer reproduce inside the human cell", says Seeger.
Using a combination of cryo-electron microscopy and X-ray crystallography, the researchers solved for the first time a high-resolution structure of the transport protein IrtAB. This analysis was done in collaboration with Ohad Medalia, professor at the Department of Biochemistry of UZH. According to its spatial structure, IrtAB belongs to the so-called ABC exporters, which are typically involved in the efflux of molecules out of the bacterial cell. "However, we were able to show that IrtAB in fact imports mycobactins into M. tuberculosis. It therefore transports molecules in the opposite direction than expected," says Markus Seeger.
[...] "IrtAB is a potential drug target, because its deletion renders M. tuberculosis inactive and incapable of infection. With our structural and functional elucidation of IrtAB, we opened avenues to develop novel tuberculosis drugs that inhibit the iron transport into the bacteria", Seeger concludes. "In view of Covid-19, a disease that also affects the lungs, tuberculosis will likely play a more important role again in the future. It is quite conceivable that patients weakened by Covid-19 will show increased infection rates with tuberculosis," he adds.
More information: Fabian M. Arnold et al, The ABC exporter IrtAB imports and reduces mycobacterial siderophores, Nature (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2136-9
Journal information: Nature
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 08 2020, @11:42PM (3 children)
First it was the whole page of Microsoft propaganda. Now nothing by medical quackery, fronted by Faux News. SoylentNews is dead.
(Score: 2) by Kitsune008 on Wednesday April 08 2020, @11:57PM
Disappointed at no input from medical quackery, are you, little snowflake?
Then I recommend one of Alex Jones' websites for more medical quackery than you can shake your duck at.
Oh, and what does Fox News have to do with the University of Zurich?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 09 2020, @12:07AM
Too much salt in your bloodstream, ari.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 09 2020, @12:38AM
Here's some news... Tesla is making ventilators out of Model 3 parts. It has an extra attachment for a bong connection. Now you can get COVID-19 ventilated with Afghani Bullrider.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 09 2020, @12:54AM
If you choke the guy to death, TB eventually croak, too.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 09 2020, @01:04AM (1 child)
Keep out the filthy Mexican criminals and you keep out their TB and other viruses.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 09 2020, @08:58AM
And if you can keep out the Gringo rapists and venture capitalists, . . .
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 09 2020, @01:26AM
Western countries eliminated TB, it's inconceivable anybody would import it. So let's not put a complete psychopath like Dr Tedros in charge of anything, ever again! Instead let's concentrate on fixing the problem: Antibody counts in young people who "recovered" from COVID-19 have been observed as frequently too low to provide lasting immunity. [medrxiv.org] From the same pre-print abstract we learn a universal SARS vaccine is unlikely to happen.