Mycoplasma pneumoniae among Hospitalized Patients with Acute Respiratory Tract Infections in an Indian Tertiary Care Hospital: an Underreported Health Problem.

The epidemiology of Mycoplasma pneumoniae (Mp) is poorly understood in India. The present study was conducted to identify the prevalence of Mp in a large set of patients with acute respiratory tract infections (ARI) in an Indian tertiary hospital. During 2015-2020, we tested throat swab specimens from patients with the clinical diagnosis of ARI ( = 1,098) by a real-time PCR and compared the demographic, clinical, laboratory, and outcome data of Mp-positive and Mp-negative patients.

Methyl-accepting chemotaxis like Rv3499c (Mce4A) protein in Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv mediates cholesterol-dependent survival.

Cholesterol, an essential cellular component in macrophages, is exploited for entry and long-term survival of Mycobacterium inside the host. Cholesterol-deficient macrophages can restrict the cholesterol-dependent entry of Mycobacterium. Rv3499c protein in Mycobacterium has high binding affinity for cholesterol.

PDIM and SL1 accumulation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis is associated with mce4A expression.

Lipid metabolism forms the heart and soul of Mycobacterium tuberculosis life cycle. Starting from macrophage invasion at cholesterol rich micro-domains to a sustainable survival for infection by utilizing cholesterol, Mycobacterium displays the nexus of metabolic pathways around host derived lipids. mce4 operon acts as cholesterol import system in M.

Functional analysis of mce4A gene of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv using antisense approach.

Antisense strategy is an attractive substitute for knockout mutations created for gene silencing. mce genes have been shown to be involved in mycobacterial uptake and intracellular survival. Here we report reduced expression of mce4A and mce1A genes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis using antisense technology.

An insight into the regulation of mce4 operon of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

The mce4 operon is reported to be involved in cholesterol utilization and intracellular survival of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis). The regulatory mechanism of this important operon was unknown so far.

Single nucleotide polymorphism in the genes of mce1 and mce4 operons of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: analysis of clinical isolates and standard reference strains.

Background: The presence of four mammalian cell entry (mce) operons in Mycobacterium tuberculosis suggests the essentiality of the functions of the genes in these operons. The differential expression of the four mce operons in different phases of in vitro growth and in infected animals reported earlier from our laboratory further justifies the apparent redundancy for these genes in the genome.Here we investigate the extent of polymorphism in eight genes in the mce1 and mce4 operons of M.

Characterization of Mce4A protein of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: role in invasion and survival.

Background: The mce4 operon is one of the four homologues of mammalian cell entry (mce) operons of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The mce4A (Rv3499c) gene within this operon is homologous to mce1A (Rv0169), that has a role in host cell invasion by M. tuberculosis.

Comparison of mammalian cell entry operons of mycobacteria: in silico analysis and expression profiling.

Mammalian cell entry (mce) operons, implicated in the entry of mycobacteria into host cells, are present in pathogenic and saprophytic species. It is likely that the genes in these operons have functions other than those required for entry into host cells. Using in silico analysis we have identified domains within the mce operons that might justify their occurrence in saprophytic species like Mycobacterium smegmatis.