The research group of Professor Kazuhisa Iwabuchi and Associate Professor Hitoshi Nakayama of Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine and Nursing and Environmental Medicine Research Institute is a mechanism by which pathogenic acid-fast bacilli including tuberculosis escape from immunity and parasitize. Was clarified.
Tuberculosis is one of the deadliest infectious diseases, affecting 2015 million people worldwide and killing 960 million people in 150.Furthermore, infections with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis bacteria are increasing significantly, especially in developing countries.Therefore, the development of a tuberculosis therapeutic drug based on a new mechanism of action has been urgently needed.Against this background, research has been promoted around the world with the aim of elucidating the mechanism by which pathogenic acid-fast bacilli, which are indispensable for new drug development, escape from immunity and parasitize pathogenic bacteria.
According to the research group, acid-fast bacilli are first phagocytosed by human neutrophils via the binding of lipoarabinomannan (LAM) mannan core and lactosylceramide (LacCer) lipid raft.The pathogenic acid-fast bacilli taken up by neutrophils block the lipid raft-dependent intracellular signal of LacCer.
The results of this research are believed to be of great help in the treatment of infectious diseases for which conventional therapeutic agents such as multidrug-resistant tuberculosis bacteria are ineffective, and may be a new trump card for tuberculosis control. It is attracting attention as to whether it is there.Based on the results of this research, the research group is aiming to develop a new therapeutic agent for pathogenic acid-fast bacillus infections targeting the molecular mechanism that blocks phagocytosis and intracellular signals.