ABSTRACT
A major impediment in chemotherapy of Tuberculosis (TB) is the persistence of M. tuberculosis in a latent or dormant state, possibly perpetuated by paucity of oxygen within the lung granuloma. Proteome analysis of the anaerobically persisting microbe could therefore provide novel targets for drugs against latent TB infection (LTBI). An Indian clinical isolate of M. tuberculosis was cultured under aerobic and anaerobic conditions following Wayne’s hypoxia model and its cytosolic proteins were resolved by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE). Peptide mass fingerprinting of 32 differentially expressed spots using MALDI TOF-TOF MS-MS resulted in identification of 23 proteins. Under the anaerobic culture conditions, expression of 12 of these proteins was highly suppressed (>2 fold reduction in spot volumes), with 4 of them (GrpE, CanB, MoxR1 and Eis) appearing as completely suppressed since corresponding spots were not detectable in the anaerobic sample. On the other hand, 4 proteins were highly expressed, with two of them (Wag31 and GroES) being uniquely expressed under anaerobic conditions. Suppression of Eis could make the anaerobically persisting bacilli susceptible to the aminoglycoside antibiotics which are known to be acetylated and inactivated by Eis. Although all 4 over-expressed proteins can be considered as putative drug targets for LTBI, Wag31 appears particularly interesting in view of its role in the cell wall biogenesis.