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Updated: Jul 14, 2026

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Published on: August 16, 2021
LspA-independent action of globomycin on Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Niaz Banaiee1, William R Jacobs, Joel D Ernst
1Department of Medicine (Division of Infectious Diseases), NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA. nbanaiee@stanford.edu
Objectives:
The objective of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial activity and specificity of globomycin, an inhibitor of lipoprotein signal peptidase II (LspA), against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Methods:
The mycobactericidal and mycobacteriostatic activity of globomycin was determined by optical density and cfu plating. The specificity of globomycin was determined by western immunoblotting using anti-MPT83 antibody.
Results:
Globomycin is mycobactericidal at concentrations>or=40 mg/L. However, at 80 mg/L, the processing of the lipoprotein MPT-83 is unaffected and growth-inhibitory effect of globomycin is unchanged in an lspA null mutant (DeltalspA::lspAmut) lacking the putative drug target.
Conclusions:
Globomycin kills M. tuberculosis through a mechanism that is independent of LspA.
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