Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 27, 2026

Author Spotlight: Scalable Drug Screening Protocol for Efficient Discovery of M. abscessus Treatments
Published on: October 25, 2024
A Focused Screen Identifies Antifolates with Activity on Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Anuradha Kumar1, Ana Guardia2, Gonzalo Colmenarejo3
1Center for Infectious Disease Research (Formerly Seattle Biomedical Research Institute) , Suite 500, Westlake Avenue North, Seattle, Washington 98109, United States.
Researchers identified novel antifolate compounds effective against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). These promising drug candidates show potential for future tuberculosis treatment development, moving beyond current limitations.
Area of Science:
- Medicinal Chemistry
- Microbiology
- Drug Discovery
Background:
- Antifolates are established therapeutics for various diseases.
- Their potential against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is underexplored for first-line tuberculosis treatment.
- Targeting Mtb with antifolates could offer new therapeutic avenues.
Purpose of the Study:
- To discover novel antifolate drug candidates for tuberculosis.
- To identify compounds with in vitro activity against Mtb for further preclinical studies.
- To leverage academic expertise and pharmaceutical resources for drug development.
Main Methods:
- Curated a focused library of 2508 potential antifolates.
- Screened compounds for activity against live Mtb.
- Confirmed on-target activity of potent hits.
- Characterized 5 lead compounds from distinct chemical scaffolds.
Main Results:
- Identified 210 primary hits with anti-Mtb activity.
- Confirmed potent, on-target activity for several compounds.
- Characterized 5 distinct antifolate chemical scaffolds showing significant Mtb inhibition.
- These compounds represent promising starting points for drug development.
Conclusions:
- Novel antifolates targeting Mtb have been identified.
- These compounds demonstrate potent in vitro activity.
- The identified scaffolds are suitable for further optimization towards in vivo efficacy studies for tuberculosis.
More Related Videos
09:57System for Efficacy and Cytotoxicity Screening of Inhibitors Targeting Intracellular Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Published on: April 5, 2017
09:57Visualization of the Charcoal Agar Resazurin Assay for Semi-quantitative, Medium-throughput Enumeration of Mycobacteria
Published on: December 14, 2016
Related Concept Videos
Pulmonary Tuberculosis V
Latent tuberculosis infection occurs when TB bacteria are present in a person's body, but are not causing illness or symptoms. It is not contagious, and preventive treatment is crucial to avoid the...
Bacterial Phylum Actinobacteria
Antifungal Agents
Anthelminthic Agents
Antimicrobial Proteins
Interferons
Interferons (IFNs) are proteins produced by lymphocytes, macrophages, and fibroblasts infected with viruses. While IFNs cannot prevent viruses from entering and...
Inhibitors of Bacterial Protein Synthesis