Estudios iniciales de la caracterización del modo de accion molecular de las avermectinas como agentes anti-tuberculosos (Tesis de Grado, TFG)
Due to the increasing incidence of multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains and treatment shortage, new active compounds are needed. An alternative ap- proach to the long and expensive drug discovery process is repurposing, finding new uses for old existing drugs. By using this approach, avermectins were described to be effective against different strains of M. tuberculosis.
In this thesis we have characterized the activity of selamectin, the avermectin selected as model for our studies, against Mycobacterium smegmatis. We have determined the experimental conditions to isolate mutants resistant to selamectin in solid medium from a transposition mutant library. Colonies isolated display a sensitivity profile similar to the wild-type strain, despite the fact that isoniazid-resistant mutants have been isolated under the same conditions.
Due to the increasing incidence of multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains and treatment shortage, new active compounds are needed. An alternative ap- proach to the long and expensive drug discovery process is repurposing, finding new uses for old existing drugs. By using this approach, avermectins were described to be effective against different strains of M. tuberculosis.
In this thesis we have characterized the activity of selamectin, the avermectin selected as model for our studies, against Mycobacterium smegmatis. We have determined the experimental conditions to isolate mutants resistant to selamectin in solid medium from a transposition mutant library. Colonies isolated display a sensitivity profile similar to the wild-type strain, despite the fact that isoniazid-resistant mutants have been isolated under the same conditions.