Among the mysteries of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is how this microbe delivers its key pathogenic proteins into human cells, causing tuberculosis. The laboratory of William R. Jacobs Jr., Ph.D., has generated a mutated form of Mtb that lacks the transport system that the organism is thought to use to secrete more than 150 proteins out of the microbe. Importantly, the lab has found that this mutant functions as a live attenuated vaccine, preventing tuberculosis infection in animal models.

Now, Dr. Jacobs has received a five-year, $4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to characterize the roles of these proteins in causing disease and determine the immunological basis for why the mutant is such a potent vaccine in animals. The findings could inform the development of a tuberculosis vaccine for humans.

Dr. Jacobs is the Leo and Julia Forchheimer Chair in Microbiology and Immunology and a professor of genetics and of microbiology & immunology at Einstein. (1R01AI192152-01)