A CNU research team found proteins that have the greatest effects on tuberculosis infection, and has been given the green light for the treatment of tuberculosis and the development of new drugs.

The research team of CNU Professor Park Chun-goo (School of Biological Sciences and Technology) and Professor Song Chang-hwa (Department of Microbiology of College of Medicine) of Chungnam National University found 750 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with Mycobacterium Tuberculosis (Mtb) infection by transcriptome analyses of macrophages. Among the DEGs, solute carrier family 7 member 2 (Slc7a2) was the more strongly expressed gene and the research team discovered that the induction of SLC7A2 is important for macrophages to control the intracellular survival of Mycobacterium tuberculosis when it is applied to immune cells.

The research accomplishment was published under the title of ‘Characterisation of genes differentially expressed in macrophages by virulent and attenuated Mycobacterium tuberculosis through RNA-Seq analysis’ on March 11 in Scientific Reports (Impact Factor: 4.609)', an online open access journal from the publishers of Nature.

To understand the host-pathogen interactions in TB, the research team carried out transcriptome analyses of macrophages infected with either the virulent Mtb strain H37Rv (Rv) or the avirulent Mtb strain H37Ra (Ra) and 750 differentially expressed genes were identified. Moreover, it confirmed that Slc7a2 shows the most dramatic change among the 83 genes that appear in the immune cells infected by the avirulent Mtb strain than the virulent Mtb strain.

In particular, when the expression level of this gene is regulated through the application of real immune cells, it is confirmed that the survival rate and infection rate of Mycobacterium tuberculosis are decreased, and the protein encoded by this gene is closely related to the infection of mycobacteria in the immune cells.

Lee Sung-gwon (MS/PHD Combination Program of the Graduate School of Biological Science and Biotechnology) co-authored the research paper as 1st author with Lee Jung-hwan (Department of Medical Science of the College of Medicine, Chungnam National University) and Professor Park and Song contributed to the research publication as corresponding authors