Abstract:
Tuberculosis threatens human health nowhere more than in developing countries with large malnourished
and/or immune-compromised (e.g. HIV infected) populations. The etiological agent, Mycobacterium
tuberculosis (Mtb), is highly infectious and current interventions demonstrate limited ability to control
the epidemic in particular of drug resistant Mtb strains. New drugs and vaccines are thus urgently
required. Structural biologists are critical to the TB research community. By identifying potential drug
targets and solving their three dimensional structures they open new avenues of identifying potential
inhibitors complementing the screening of novel compounds and the investigation of Mtb's molecular
physiology by pharmaceutical companies and academic researchers. Much effort has gone into structurally
elucidating the Mtb proteome though much remains to be done with progress primarily limited
by technological constraints. We review the currently available data for Mtb H37Rv to extract the lessons
they have taught us.
