Comparative Analysis of Host-Pathogen Protein-Protein Interactions between Human and Various Strains of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis remains a substantial health threat globally, despite decades having elapsed since the identification of its causative agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Approximately 35% of the global population is sub-clinically infected, leading as one of the primary causes of human mortality. The increased prevalence of drug-resistant strains of Mtb necessitates identification of important drug targets. Therefore, the aim of the study was to comparatively analyze the protein-protein interactions between the host and the pathogen (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) to uncover the conserved molecular mechanisms of infection, providing insight into strain-specific variations.

METHODS: One of the major problems is the diverse spectrum of diseases caused by different Mtb. To date, most research has their attention on a specific pathogenic strain. Therefore, to screen common and effective drug targets of different strains, we compared the protein-protein interactions of four virulent strains (H37Rv, CDC1551, CAS/NITR204, and Erdman) and one a virulent strain (H37Ra) of Mtb with its human host. Here, the interolog method was adopted to identify the biomolecular-interactions between Mtb and its human host.

RESULTS: As a result, an interaction network has been developed, and the target has been screened through multiple parameters, such as the highest interacting partners, virulent factors, subcellular localization, and predicted protein interactions.

CONCLUSIONS: This study substantially resulted in the identification of potential drug targets, ATP synthase subunit alpha and gamma, and chaperone proteins DNAK and HTPG.