Tuberculosis (TB) is the deadliest infectious disease of mankind, killing 1,2 million people every year. Currently, there are no means to effectively prevent or treat TB disease. For unknown reasons, TB is naturally difficult to treat with drugs - 6-9-month regimen with a combination of antibiotics is required for treatment of drug-susceptible TB. In this project, we dissect the mechanisms of bacterial resilience in this difficult-to-treat disease. The project will bring important knowledge on persistent bacteria that are able to tolerate antibiotics. We will develop different strategies to inhibit bacterial persistence to make them more vulnerable to conventional antibiotic treatments. These strategies will be tested in the zebrafish and mouse TB models for their efficacy. New persistence-inhibiting drugs could enable faster and more efficient treatment of TB and, ultimately, help in controlling the global TB epidemic.

2022

2026