Specific Binding Peptides from Rv3632: A Strategy for Blocking Entry to Target Cells?

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by (, i.e., the aetiological agent); the WHO has established this disease as high priority due to its ensuing mortality.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv LpqG Protein Peptides Can Inhibit Mycobacterial Entry through Specific Interactions.

is the causative agent of tuberculosis, a disease causing major mortality worldwide. As part of a systematic methodology for studying surface proteins which might be involved in host-pathogen interactions, our group found that LpqG surface protein (Rv3623) found in complex strains was located on the mycobacterial envelope and that peptide 16661 (SGCDSHNSGSLGADPRQVTVY) had high specific binding to U937 monocyte-derived macrophages and inhibited mycobacterial entry to such cells in a concentration-dependent way. A region having high specific binding to A549 alveolar epithelial cells was found which had low mycobacterial entry inhibition.