title: New tuberculosis drug development: targeting the shikimate pathway.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Tuberculosis (TB) remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, yet no new drugs have been developed in the last 40 years.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The exceedingly lengthy TB chemotherapy and the increasing emergence of drug resistance complicated by HIV co-infection call for the development of new TB drugs. These problems are further compounded by a poor understanding of the biology of persister bacteria.
  
  
  METHODS
  New molecular tools have offered insights into potential new drug targets, particularly the enzymes of the shikimate pathway, which is the focus of this review.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Shikimate pathway enzymes, especially shikimate kinase, may offer attractive targets for new TB drug and vaccine development.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University, Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA +1 410 614 2975 ; +1 410 955 0105 ; yzhang@jhsph.edu.
authors.forename: Senta M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kapnick
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang