Cloning, expression and characterization of Mycobacterium tuberculosis sirR.

Identification of new drug targets is important for the improvement of chemotherapy for tuberculosis treatment. Metal-associated gene products are candidates for novel drug development. A Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) sirR-encoded protein has been proposed, but the function of MTB SirR has not yet been elucidated. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that MTB SirR contains iron binding domains with 34%-59% similarity to previously described metal-dependent gene regulators and that the gene lies in Rv2787-sirR operon. RT-PCR revealed that the Rv2787-sirR operon is transcribed a single bicistronic mRNA. Heterologous expression, purification and characterization of recombinant MTB His-tagged SirR demonstrated a 25 kDa protein (by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting) that exists as a dimer (native PAGE). Based on electrophoretic mobility shift assay, MTB SirR bound a cis element located at -85 bp upstream of its operon. As Rv2787-sirR operon is unique only to MTB (and M. bovis), further studies on its regulation and other functions of the encoded proteins should provide leads towards the discovery of novel anti-TB drugs.