VATIS UPDATE Article

Scientists at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru have developed two new, potent molecules that can severely impact the survival of mycobacteria, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis that causes TB. The master regulator of stress pathway in the case of mycobacteria is (p)ppGpp (Guanosine pentaphospahte or Guanosine tetraphosphate). Though a molecule that inhibits the (p)ppGpp formation has already been synthesised, the efficacy is not much.

“Very high concentration of Relacin molecule is needed to inhibit the pathway and, therefore, the efficacy is low. So we synthesised two new molecules – acetylated compound (AC compound) and acetylated benzoylated compound (AB compound) – by bringing about a modification in the base of the Relacin molecule,” says Prof. Dipankar Chatterji, at IISc. Laboratory studies showed that the two molecules were not toxic to human cells and were able to penetrate the human lung epithelial cells.