Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children have revealed how tuberculosis bacteria power themselves during infection by mapping the detailed structure of a crucial energy-extraction protein. The study, published in The EMBO Journal, provides the first 3D structure of EtfD, a protein that Mycobacterium tuberculosis uses to extract energy from lipids.
Tuberculosis remains one of the world's deadliest infectious diseases, making this metabolic pathway research particularly significant for global health. Understanding how the bacteria fuels itself during infection could lead to new therapeutic approaches targeting this essential biological process.