The tryptophan biosynthetic pathway is essential for Mycobacterium tuberculosis to cause disease

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), is the most significant cause of death from a single infectious agent worldwide. Antibiotic-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis represent a threat to effective treatment, and the long duration, toxicity and complexity of current chemotherapy for antibiotic-resistant disease presents a need for new therapeutic approaches with novel modes of action. M. tuberculosis is an intracellular pathogen that must survive phagocytosis by macrophages, dendritic cells or neutrophils to establish an infection. The tryptophan biosynthetic pathway is required for bacterial survival in the phagosome, presenting a target for new classes of antitubercular compound. The enzymes responsible for the six catalytic steps that produce tryptophan from chorismate have all been characterised in M. tuberculosis, and inhibitors have been described for some of the steps. The innate immune system depletes cellular tryptophan in response to infection in order to inhibit microbial growth, and this effect is likely to be important for the efficacy of tryptophan biosynthesis inhibitors as new antibiotics. Allosteric inhibitors of both the first and final enzymes in the pathway have proven effective, including by a metabolite produced by the gut biota, raising the intriguing possibility that the modulation of tryptophan biosynthesis may be a natural inter-bacterial competition strategy.