About this Research Topic
Up until 2019 COVID outbreak, tuberculosis (TB) stayed as the number one cause of mortality from a single infectious agent. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a highly contagious airborne pathogen that predominantly affects lung but in certain cases also compromises the central nervous system. The multi-resistant forms of the mycobacteria, co-existence with HIV, the latent form of TB, and more recently, emergence of non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) such as Mycobacterium abscessus and Mycobacterium avium , collectively add further layers of complication in designing appropriate therapies. Drug discovery efforts to identify novel lead compounds and certain druggable cellular targets for mycobacteria are therefore of paramount importance to combat these infectious agents.
The Research Topic herein aims to assemble the current trends of antimycobacterial drug discovery research from both academia, not-for-profit organizations, as well as pharmaceutical industries. There are a few major areas we hope to explore. First, we would like to investigate possible molecular mechanisms these pathogens apply to sense and evade our immune system, ultimately leading to latent form of the disease as well as resistance. Second, we hope to identify novel, druggable mycobacterial targets and their associated drug discovery/lead optimization efforts towards safer therapeutics. Third, we are keen to explore how existing drugs can be potentially repurposed for antimycobacterial applications.
This Topic welcomes submissions in the form of Mini Reviews, Perspectives, Reviews, and Original Research articles that focus around antimycobacterial drug discovery. Some selected themes include:
• Identification of small molecule antimycobacterials
• Elucidation of novel mechanisms of action or cellular targets of
these agents by transcriptomics
• Repurposing of existing drugs for mycobacteria
• In vitro and in vivo models to mimic latent TB
• Natural products with anti-TB properties
• Computational/theoretical contributions towards better understanding of TB pathologies.
The Research Topic herein aims to assemble the current trends of antimycobacterial drug discovery research from both academia, not-for-profit organizations, as well as pharmaceutical industries. There are a few major areas we hope to explore. First, we would like to investigate possible molecular mechanisms these pathogens apply to sense and evade our immune system, ultimately leading to latent form of the disease as well as resistance. Second, we hope to identify novel, druggable mycobacterial targets and their associated drug discovery/lead optimization efforts towards safer therapeutics. Third, we are keen to explore how existing drugs can be potentially repurposed for antimycobacterial applications.
This Topic welcomes submissions in the form of Mini Reviews, Perspectives, Reviews, and Original Research articles that focus around antimycobacterial drug discovery. Some selected themes include:
• Identification of small molecule antimycobacterials
• Elucidation of novel mechanisms of action or cellular targets of
these agents by transcriptomics
• Repurposing of existing drugs for mycobacteria
• In vitro and in vivo models to mimic latent TB
• Natural products with anti-TB properties
• Computational/theoretical contributions towards better understanding of TB pathologies.
Keywords: Mycobacterium, tuberculosis, small-molecule, infectious disease, druggable target
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
