Exit from mycobacterial dormancy: a structural perspective

Dormancy in mycobacteria is defined as a stable but reversible non-replicating state in response to stresses. In Mycobacterium tuberculosis, an important human pathogen, this state is responsible for latent Tuberculosis. The current chemotherapy to defeat Tuberculosis while effective in killing growing tubercle bacilli is largely ineffective in killing dormant bacilli. For this reason there is a recent interest to develop new drugs against this disease in the latent form. To this aim, the knowledge of the molecular basis of bacterial resuscitation from dormancy is necessary and of paramount importance. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the complex mechanism of exit from mycobacterial dormancy; the main molecular players responsible for mycobacterial resuscitation from dormancy are described and their role is discussed from a structural perspective.