[WS8-4] 低酸素休眠抗酸菌の主要タンパク質Mycobacterial DNA-binding protein 1
Mycobacteria can survive long periods in the host as a dormant state. As for tuberculosis, such latent infection is a major source of infection. Mycobacterial DNA-binding protein 1 (MDP1), which is conserved among all mycobacterial species and essential in slow growers such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis var. tuberculosis, was identified as one of the most abundant proteins in hypoxic dormant mycobacteria, suggesting a significant role in the growth regulation and adaptation. MDP1 is a mycobacterial orthologue of bacterial histone-like protein HU, but possesses eukaryotic histone H1-like intrinsically disordered region (IDR) that is not seen in most of other HUs. We recently showed that MDP1 plays a role in chromosome condensation and suppresses multiple cellular functions such as replication and metabolism in the stationary phase, which is important in the long-term survival of mycobacteria. Interestingly, unlike IDR-deficient general HUs, IDR is required to express such MDP1 functions (e.g., chromosome organization, growth/replication, drug tolerance). These data suggest the pivotal role of mycobacteria-specific IDR in MDP1 functions. Here, we summarize our current findings on unique IDR-dependent functions of MDP1 in mycobacteria including the current update of functional study.