The differences between gene expression of tryptophan-aspartate containing coat protein at the infection period of tuberculosis patients

Background: Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is known as an intracellular pathogen that survives inside the phagosome of the host macrophage. Several host factors are involved in this process, one of them is tryptophan-aspartate containing coat protein (TACO). This study intended to know how the role of TACO is during the TB treatment process. Methods: Messenger RNA (mRNA) expression was measured using a PCR LightCycler 2.0 machine to study TACO expression in 3 different groups, namely new pulmonary TB patients, TB patients after 2 months of treatment, and TB patients after 5 months of treatment. The immunocytochemistry tests have been done for the confirmation. Results: There were significant differences to TACO expression between new TB patients, TB patients after 2 months of treatment, and 5 months of treatment. However, there were no significant differences among the two groups of treated patients. Conclusion: Tryptophan aspartate containing coat protein expression varies during TB infection because MTB has a very complex self-defense mechanism against host natural immunity. It is still unclear that MTB which is living in the phagosome only uses TACO expression to avoid phagolysosome fusion in the macrophages.