Open Access
A Fluorogenic Trehalose Probe for Tracking Phagocytosed Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Author(s) -
Tingting Dai,
Jinghang Xie,
Qihua Zhu,
Mireille Kamariza,
Ke Jiang,
Carolyn R. Bertozzi,
Jianghong Rao
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of the american chemical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.115
H-Index - 612
eISSN - 1520-5126
pISSN - 0002-7863
DOI - 10.1021/jacs.0c07700
Subject(s) - mycobacterium tuberculosis , trehalose , chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , pathogen , tuberculosis , mycobacterium , biochemistry , biology , medicine , pathology
Tuberculosis (TB) disease is a global epidemic caused by the pathogenic Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Tools that can track the replication status of viable Mtb cells within macrophages are vital for the elucidation of host-pathogen interactions. Here, we present a cephalosphorinase-dependent green trehalose (CDG-Tre) fluorogenic probe that enables fluorescence labeling of single live Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) cells within macrophages at concentrations as low as 2 μM. CDG-Tre fluoresces upon activation by BlaC, the β-lactamase uniquely expressed by Mtb, and the fluorescent product is subsequently incorporated within the bacterial cell wall via trehalose metabolic pathway. CDG-Tre showed high selectivity for mycobacteria over other clinically prevalent species in the Corynebacterineae suborder. The unique labeling strategy of BCG by CDG-Tre provides a versatile tool for tracking Mtb in both pre- and postphagocytosis and elucidating fundamental physiological and pathological processes related to the mycomembrane.