title: Mobility and temperature resistance of trehalose mycolates as key characteristics of the outer membrane of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
abstract: Trehalose mycolates are fundamental characteristics of the outer membrane (mycomembrane) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and they are supposed to play a key role in the low permeability and high resistance of mycobacteria to many antibiotics; however, still, the molecular characteristics making mycolates so effective in their biological function are not fully understood. This work aims to investigate by quasi-elastic neutron scattering the diffusive dynamical properties of trehalose mycolates in water mixtures as a function of temperature, energy and exchanged wavevector Q in order to elucidate the dynamics-function relation in the mycomembrane. A comparison with lecithin lipids in water mixtures is performed since they are considered among the most rigid and resistant lipids. From the analysis of the data collected as a function of temperature, a lower temperature dependence of the mobility as well as a higher rigidity of trehalose mycolates in comparison with lecithin lipids are highlighted. The present findings provide detailed molecular information which allows to go ahead in the understanding at a molecular level of the resistance to stress and antibiotics by corynebacteria and mycobacteria.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Physics and Earth Sciences , University of Messina , Viale D'Alcontres 31, 98166 Messina , Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Migliardo
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Salmeron
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bayan
mesh_terms: D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000737:chemistry; D054709:Lecithins / Q000737:chemistry; D008956:Models, Chemical; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000737:chemistry*; D009171:Mycolic Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D014199:Trehalose / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D054709:Lecithins; D009171:Mycolic Acids; D014867:Water; D014199:Trehalose
keywords: Mycobacterium tuberculosis; diffusion; quasi elastic neutron scattering; stability; trehalose mycolates