title: Analyzing the interaction of pathogens with the host immune system.
abstract: Infectious diseases continue to represent a great burden to human society, being responsible for approximately 14 to 16 million deaths annually. Today, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, remains one of the most important infectious agents. Moreover, with the emergence of multi drug and extensive drug resistant strains of M. tuberculosis, there is a great need for a better understanding of the virulence strategies utilized by this pathogen. In this manuscript, we discuss some of the strategies that have been followed to unravel virulence mechanisms utilized by M. tuberculosis. Knowledge of these mechanisms is important to reveal potential targets that may be useful for the development of compounds to treat tuberculosis.
authors.affiliation: Biozentrum, University of Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Rajesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jayachandran
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Scherr
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pieters
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017951:Antigen Presentation; D017869:Cyclic GMP-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity; D021381:Protein Transport; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D017869:Cyclic GMP-Dependent Protein Kinases