Faculty of Science
Microbiology and Immunology

Vacuolar-ATPase inhibitors are antimicrobial agents active against intracellular mycobacteria

Graphs depicting bacterial growth

Publication Date

Publication Journal

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy

Author(s)

Leah Rankine-Wilson, Tirosh Shapira, Jake Felker, Matthew Christofferson, Henok Sahile, Joseph Chao, Houria Afshar, Raymond J. Andersen, Jim Sun, and Yossef Av-Gay

Upon infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, macrophage immune cells trap it within a membrane bubble known as a phagosome and acidify the interior of the bubble to kill the bacterium. In this study, the authors treated Mtb-infected macrophages with an inhibitor of phagosome acidification and found that, even while blocking acid-induced death, the compound killed the bacterium. This work reveals a complex role for phagosome acidification in pathogenesis and points toward new avenues for host-directed therapies against mycobacterial infections.

  • Av-Gay Lab
  • Sun Lab

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Microbiology and Immunology

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