(Photo source: NIAID Instagram account, Dr. Kohta Saito and Dr. Christopher Brown are on the left in the back row.)
We are excited to share a report from the recent NIAID TRACs Annual Meeting, held on September 17-18, 2024, at the Bakar BioEnginuity Hub Auditorium, UC Berkeley. This year’s conference brought together senior investigators and early stage investigators supported by the six TRAC programs. Among the presentations by early stage investigators were two from our NYC TRAC, Dr. Christopher Brown and Dr. Kohta Saito, who shared their findings on Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) resilience.
Christopher Brown: “Learning to Fly: The Desiccation Stress Response of Mycobacterium tuberculosis”
Christopher Brown's presentation delved into the desiccation stress response of Mtb, a crucial factor in the pathogen’s transmission and survival. His research highlights how Mtb experiences drying stress during aerosolization, an intrinsic part of its life cycle. Utilizing a novel model of desiccation stress, he discovered that surviving bacteria exhibit a coordinated and reversible adaptation, crucial for their survival. This adaptive response involves significant metabolic shifts, focusing on DNA repair. These findings not only enhance our understanding of Mtb's survival mechanisms but also point to potential targets for developing interventions aimed at interrupting transmission.
Kohta Saito: “A Single Cell Transcriptomic Approach to Interrogating Stressed Mycobacterial Subpopulations”
Kohta Saito’s work addresses the complexities of Mtb subpopulations during antibiotic treatment. By employing a novel in situ combinatorial indexing technique, his research allows for single-cell resolution of RNA sequencing, revealing the distinct transcriptomic profiles of Mtb subpopulations. His preliminary findings indicate that these subpopulations undergo dynamic changes in response to hypoxia and antibiotic exposure. Application of the technique to cells exposed to and recovering from antibiotic exposure may yield unique vulnerabilities that can be targeted.