title: Targeting the global regulator Lsr2 as a novel approach for anti-tuberculosis drug development.
abstract: Leprosy serum reactive clone 2 (Lsr2; Rv3597c) is a recently identified nucleoid-associated protein that acts as a global transcriptional regulator of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Strikingly, Lsr2 appears to play a critical role in controlling the expression of virulence-associated genes. Here the authors outline the current knowledge concerning this novel global regulator and its potential as a target for chemotherapeutic intervention. Compounds that induce high level expression of lsr2 may lead to abolishment of virulence traits and render the bacterium incapable of causing infection and/or disease. Alternatively, compounds that either silence lsr2 expression or block the protein's function could be lethal since it has been postulated that lsr2 is essential in M. tuberculosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, 1 King's College Circle, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, Canada. jun.liu@utoronto.ca
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Blair R G
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Gordon
mesh_terms: D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D015195:Drug Design; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C539619:Lsr2 protein, Mycobacterium tuberculosis