Tuberculosis

Ranjan Nanda and Virander Chauhan of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology in India will gather breath samples from tuberculosis patients and use gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to identify and track unique molecules such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that might serve as biomarkers to diagnose tuberculosis. The overall goal is to then create a handheld "electronic nose" to diagnose the disease in resource-poor settings.

William Royea of Next Dimensions Technology, Inc., in the U.S. seeks to develop a point-of-care breath analyzer. The proposed system aims to use an array of chemical films that are sensitive to changes in electrical conduction as a result of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by tuberculosis (TB). In this project's Phase I research, Royea and his team demonstrated proof-of-concept for detecting breath-based biomarkers of TB in a clinical setting.

Philana Ling Lin of the University of Pittsburgh in the U.S. will use imaging technologies such as PET and CT scans to study the biological mechanisms related to the reactivation of latent tuberculosis to better understand the fundamental characteristics of reactivation, as well as provide insight about new ways to induce or limit reactivation of latent tuberculosis.

Kyu Rhee of Weill Cornell Medical College in the U.S. will test the theory that tuberculosis utilizes metabolosomes, which are protein-based metabolic structures, to enter into, maintain, and exit from latency. Understanding how metabolosomes work will aid in development of drugs that target TB.

Carl Nathan and Gang Lin of Weill Cornell Medical College will test their hypothesis that tuberculosis is able to exit latency by distributing damaged proteins to a senescent cell lineage, while more functional proteins are diverted to a lineage with full replication potential. Regulating this post-latency cell division could be the target of novel drug therapies.

Dan Feldheim of the University of Colorado in the U.S. will test his hypothesis that gold nanocrystals coated with drug compounds can effectively inhibit protein-protein interactions that often drive disease pathogenesis, will be less susceptible to evolutionary mechanisms that lead to drug resistance, and offer enhanced drug delivery characteristics. This project’s Phase I research demonstrated that gold nanocrystals can be tailored to circumvent many viral and bacterial evolutionary drug resistance mechanisms.

Xilin Zhao of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey will test whether anaerobic gas, which causes rapid depletion of oxygen, will kill the tuberculosis bacteria without permanent damage to surrounding tissue.

To stop the spread of tuberculosis, scientists are working to develop methods that prevent new infections and also eliminate infection in the huge reservoir of people who already are infected with MTB. New approaches that focus on controlling or stimulating the immune system to cure latent infections or prevent MTB from causing disease have the potential to significantly reduce illness, death, and disease transmission. Dr.

An estimated 2 billion individuals - a third of the world's population - have been exposed to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and carry the infection in its latent form, retaining a lifelong risk of developing TB disease. Programs to control tuberculosis now focus on childhood vaccination and treatment for people with active disease. Reversing TB's spread, however, requires an intervention that will prevent disease in those who are already infected. The lack of knowledge about the biology of latent TB infection stands in the way of the development of such an intervention. Dr.

Of all WHO regions, the Americas have the second lowest rate of successfully treated TB cases and the largest percentage of failed treatment cases. Peru in particular has the highest percentage of previously treated TB cases with MDR-TB (multi-drug resistant tuberculosis), often caused by patients not adhering to the treatment. This innovation aims to rectify this with a cost-effective and community-centred approach, using eCompliance, a portable biometric patient identification system originally developed by the NGO OperationASHA.