2. Academic Validation
  3. Insights into IrtAB: Iron Transport Facilitates Ultrasensitive Detection of Mycobacteria in Both Cellular and Clinical Environments

Insights into IrtAB: Iron Transport Facilitates Ultrasensitive Detection of Mycobacteria in Both Cellular and Clinical Environments

  • ACS Cent Sci. 2025 Jan 7;11(2):261-271. doi: 10.1021/acscentsci.4c00676.
Dianmo Ni 1,  Xiaoqiao Hong 1,  Dingyi Liu 2 3,  Xueyuan Li 1,  Li Li 4,  Wenwu Liu 1,  Zhaogang Sun 2 3,  Gang Liu 1
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Haidian District, Beijing 100084, P. R. China.
  • 2 Translational Medicine Center, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Tongzhou District, Beijing 101149, P. R. China.
  • 3 Beijing Key Laboratory in Drug Resistant Tuberculosis Research, Beijing Tuberculosis & Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Tongzhou District, Beijing 101149, P. R. China.
  • 4 Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Xicheng District, Beijing 100050, P. R. China.
PMID: 40028350 DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.4c00676
Abstract

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) utilizes a heterodimeric ABC transporter (IrtAB) to extract Fe3+ ions from host cells. This study demonstrates that ultrasensitive fluorescent probes, achieved through the conjugation of fluorophores with the ligand of IrtAB, N14G and N14G-Fe can detect Mycobacterium smegmatis at concentrations as low as 1-10 nM within an incubation period of less than 5 min. Furthermore, these probes effectively label Mycobacterium bovis Bacille Calmette-Guérin BCG and the wild-type Mtb strain H37Rv at a concentration of 0.1 μM after 10 min of incubation, achieving a limit of detection of 34 Colony-Forming Unit for the wild-type Mtb strain H37Rv. Both N14G and N14G-Fe successfully identified Mtb in sputum samples from patients diagnosed with tuberculosis, exhibiting exceptional fluorescence.

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