Identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis adherence-mediating components: a review of key methods to confirm adhesin function

Abstract

Anti-adhesion therapy represents a potentially promising avenue for the treatment and prevention of tuberculosis in a post-antibiotic era. Adhesins are surface-exposed microbial structures or molecules that enable pathogenic organisms to adhere to host surfaces, a fundamental step towards host infection. Although several <em>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</em> adhesins have been identified, it is predicted that numerous additional adherence-mediating components contribute to the virulence and success of this pathogen. Significant further research to discern and characterize novel <em>M. tuberculosis</em> adhesins is, therefore, required to gain a holistic account of <em>M. tuberculosis</em> adhesion to the host. This would enable the identification of potential drug and vaccine targets for attenuating <em>M. tuberculosis</em> adherence and infectivity. Several methods have been successfully applied to the study and identification of <em>M. tuberculosis</em> adhesins. In this manuscript, we review these methods, which include adherence assays that utilize wild-type and gene knockout mutant strains, epitope masking and competitive inhibition analyses, extracellular matrix protein binding assays, microsphere adhesion assays, <em>M. tuberculosis</em> auto-aggregation assays, and <em>in silico</em> analyses.