title: History, biology and chemistry of Mycobacterium ulcerans infections (Buruli ulcer disease).
abstract: Mycobacterium ulcerans infections (Buruli ulcer disease) have a long history that can be traced back 150 years. The successive discoveries of the mycobacteria in 1948 and of mycolactone A/B in 1999, the toxin responsible for this dramatic necrotic skin disease, resulted in a paradigm shift concerning the disease itself and in a broader sense, delineated an entirely new role for bioactive polyketides as virulence factors. The fascinating history, biology and chemistry of M. ulcerans infections are discussed in this review.
authors.affiliation: Université de Haute Alsace, Laboratoire de Chimie Organique et Bioorganique, EA4566, Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Mulhouse, 3 rue Alfred Werner, 68093 Mulhouse Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Anne-Caroline
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Chany
authors.forename: Cédric
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tresse
authors.forename: Virginie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Casarotto
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Blanchard
mesh_terms: D054312:Buruli Ulcer / Q000266:history; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D018942:Macrolides / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D015394:Molecular Structure
chemical_list: D018942:Macrolides; C451489:mycolactone B