title: Mechanism of ESAT-6 membrane interaction and its roles in pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
abstract: The 6-kDa early secreted antigenic target (ESAT-6; EsxA) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis was first identified as a potent T-cell antigen, and it is now recognized as a pore-forming toxin that is essential for virulence of M. tuberculosis. ESAT-6 is secreted through the ESX-1 secretion system (Type VII) of M. tuberculosis and has been implicated to mediate mycobacterial cytosolic translocation within the host macrophages by rupturing the phagosomal membranes. Recent studies have made significant progresses in understanding of the mechanism of ESAT-6 membrane interaction and its role in M. tuberculosis pathogenesis, but important questions still remain to be answered. Here, we summarize the current progress in study of ESAT-6 membrane interaction and its roles in pathogenesis and discuss some of the key remaining questions for future investigation.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory Agriculture Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan, 430070, China.
authors.forename: Xiuli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Border Biomedical Research Center, University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West University Avenue, El Paso, TX 79968, USA. Electronic address: jsun@utep.edu.
authors.forename: Jianjun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D020539:Sequence Analysis, Protein; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C093276:ESAT-6 protein, Mycobacterium tuberculosis
keywords: ESAT-6; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Pore-forming toxins