Iron Acquisition by the Genus Mycobacterium: History, Mechanisms, Role of Siderocalin, Anti-Tuberculosis Drug Development (Springer Briefs in Molecular Science/Springer Briefs in Biometals)

Description

Iron Acquisition by the Genus Mycobacterium summarizes the early evidence for the necessity of iron in mycobacteria and the discovery of the mycobacterial siderophores mycobactin, carboxymycobactin, and exochelin. The structural characterization of the mycobacterial siderophores is described and the recently discovered heme uptake process for iron gathering by M. tuberculosis is featured. New drugs for M. tuberculosis are needed and this brief also emphasizes: 1) the design of antibiotics that interfere with siderophore biosynthesis and 2) the use of siderophore analogs and/or conjugates.