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3d ago

MIT Researchers Develop Chemical Probe for Faster Tuberculosis Diagnostics

A novel oxaziridine-based tool selectively labels TB-associated glycans, paving the way for rapid, non-invasive diagnostic tests in low-resource settings.

These macrophages are infected with mycobacterium tuberculosis. In the middle column, glycans in the bacterial cell wall have been labeled green. At right, bacterial cell walls are labeled in purple. The composite images at left show both the cell walls and the glycan label that the MIT team developed. Cells were imaged after 4 hours (top row) and 72 hours (bottom row).

Overview

  • MIT chemists have created an oxaziridine-based probe that targets the ManLAM glycan in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, enabling real-time visualization of its cell wall distribution.
  • The probe demonstrates high specificity by selectively labeling the sulfur-containing MTX sugar in ManLAM, with no fluorescent signal detected in nonpathogenic Mycobacterium smegmatis.
  • The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals that ManLAM remains attached to the bacterial cell wall during early macrophage infection, challenging previous hypotheses of glycan shedding.
  • Researchers aim to translate this breakthrough into rapid, urine-based TB diagnostics that could provide a faster and more accessible alternative to sputum culture and imaging methods.
  • This innovation could also be used to monitor antibiotic efficacy and immune responses, offering new insights into bacterial pathogenesis and treatment strategies.