Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41864986›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

Activation of L-histidine biosynthesis as a new antibiotic strategy against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Debbie M Hunt, João Pedro Pisco, Angela Rodgers, Cesira de Chiara, Anisha Zaveri, Kamila L Pacholarz, Dimitrios Evangelopoulos, Acely Garza-Garcia, Sabine Ehrt, Dirk Schnappinger and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Debbie M Hunt *Mycobacterial Metabolism and Antibiotic Research Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom.
João Pedro Pisco *Mycobacterial Metabolism and Antibiotic Research Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6763-7354
Angela RodgersHost-Pathogen Interactions in Tuberculosis Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom.
Cesira de ChiaraMycobacterial Metabolism and Antibiotic Research Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9766-2515
Anisha ZaveriDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, United States of America.
Kamila L PacholarzManchester Institute of Biotechnology, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom.
Dimitrios EvangelopoulosDepartment of Microbial Diseases, UCL Eastman Dental Institute, London, United Kingdom.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0472-7576
Acely Garza-GarciaMycobacterial Metabolism and Antibiotic Research Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom.
Sabine EhrtDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, United States of America.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7951-2310
Dirk SchnappingerDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, United States of America.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4445-7219
Perdita E BarranManchester Institute of Biotechnology, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7720-586X
Maximiliano G GutierrezHost-Pathogen Interactions in Tuberculosis Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3199-0337
Luiz Pedro S de CarvalhoMycobacterial Metabolism and Antibiotic Research Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom. soriodecarval.lp@ufl.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2875-4552

Funding

Wellcome Trust CC2000Wellcome Trust CC2081Wellcome Trust (Wellcome) 104785/B/14/Z
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The increasing prevalence of antimicrobial resistance is an important challenge that warrants new approaches to antibiotic development. Currently, all antibiotics inhibit biological processes. To explore whether activation of a biochemical pathway can elicit bactericidal effects we engineered variants of Mycobacterium tuberculosis ATP-phosphoribosyltransferase (ATP-PRT) that are resistant to allosteric inhibition by L-histidine, leading to supraphysiological activation of ATP-PRT and L-histidine overproduction. Upregulation of L-histidine biosynthesis significantly reduces the growth of M. tuberculosis in culture and causes a loss of fitness owing to nutrient and energy depletion. Moreover, the expression of allosteric variants in M. tuberculosis significantly reduced infections in human macrophages and in a mouse model of infection. Thus, metabolic activation represents a new mycobactericidal mechanism that could be applied to antimycobacterial drug discovery.

Indexed as

Antitubercular AgentsATP PhosphoribosyltransferaseHistidineMycobacterium tuberculosisAnimalsBacterial ProteinsHumansMacrophagesMiceTuberculosisAntitubercular AgentsATP PhosphoribosyltransferaseBacterial ProteinsHistidine

Identifiers

PMID41864986
PMCPMC13018310

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.