title: Profiling of Intracellular Metabolites: An Approach to Understanding the Characteristic Physiology of Mycobacterium leprae.
abstract: Mycobacterium leprae is the causative agent of leprosy and also known to possess unique features such as inability to proliferate in vitro. Among the cellular components of M. leprae, various glycolipids present on the cell envelope are well characterized and some of them are identified to be pathogenic factors responsible for intracellular survival in host cells, while other intracellular metabolites, assumed to be associated with basic physiological feature, remain largely unknown. In the present study, to elucidate the comprehensive profile of intracellular metabolites, we performed the capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry (CE-MS) analysis on M. leprae and compared to that of M. bovis BCG. Interestingly, comparison of these two profiles showed that, in M. leprae, amino acids and their derivatives are significantly accumulated, but most of intermediates related to central carbon metabolism markedly decreased, implying that M. leprae possess unique metabolic features. The present study is the first report demonstrating the unique profiles of M. leprae metabolites and these insights might contribute to understanding undefined metabolism of M. leprae as well as pathogenic characteristics related to the manifestation of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mycobacteriology, Leprosy Research Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Higashimurayama, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Mycobacteriology, Leprosy Research Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Higashimurayama, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Tetsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mukai
authors.affiliation: Department of Mycobacteriology, Leprosy Research Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Higashimurayama, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsuoka
authors.affiliation: Department of Mycobacteriology, Leprosy Research Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Higashimurayama, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kai
authors.affiliation: Department of Mycobacteriology, Leprosy Research Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Higashimurayama, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Maeda
authors.affiliation: Department of Mycobacteriology, Leprosy Research Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Higashimurayama, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Makino
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism*; D019075:Electrophoresis, Capillary; D006017:Glycolipids / Q000378:metabolism; D007918:Leprosy / Q000382:microbiology*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008819:Mice, Nude; D009163:Mycobacterium bovis / Q000378:metabolism; D009166:Mycobacterium leprae / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D006017:Glycolipids