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Genomics, Computational Biology and Drug Discovery for Mycobacterial Infections: Fighting the Emergence of Resistance

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Munir, Asma 
Vedithi, Sundeep Chaitanya 
Chaplin, Amanda K. 
Blundell, Tom L. 

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) and leprosy are mycobacterial infections caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae respectively. These diseases continue to be endemic in developing countries where the cost of new medicines presents major challenges. The situation is further exacerbated by the emergence of resistance to many front-line antibiotics. A priority now is to design new antimycobacterials that are not only effective in combatting the diseases but are also less likely to give rise to resistance. In both these respects understanding the structure of drug targets in M. tuberculosis and M. leprae is crucial. In this review we describe structure-guided approaches to understanding the impacts of mutations that give rise to antimycobacterial resistance and the use of this information in the design of new medicines.

Description

Keywords

Genetics, emergence of resistance, tuberculosis, leprosy, prediction of mutations, antimycobacterials

Journal Title

Frontiers in Genetics

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1664-8021

Volume Title

11

Publisher

Frontiers Media S.A.