Mycobacterium tuberculosis PPE2 Protein Interacts with p67phox and Inhibits Reactive Oxygen Species Production.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis employs defense mechanisms to protect itself from reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated cytotoxicity inside macrophages. In the current study, we found that a secretory protein of M. tuberculosis PPE2 disrupted the assembly of NADPH oxidase complex. PPE2 inhibited NADPH oxidase-mediated ROS generation in RAW 264.7 macrophages and peritoneal macrophages from BALB/c mice. PPE2 interacted with the cytosolic subunit of NADPH oxidase, p67phox, and prevented translocation of p67phox and p47phox to the membrane, resulting in decreased NADPH oxidase activity. Trp236 residue present in the SH3-like domain of PPE2 was found to be critical for its interaction with p67phox Trp236Ala mutant of PPE2 did not interact with p67phox and thereby did not affect ROS generation. M. tuberculosis expressing PPE2 and PPE2-null mutants complemented with PPE2 survived better than PPE2-null mutants in infected RAW 264.7 macrophages. Altogether, this study suggests that PPE2 inhibits NADPH oxidase-mediated ROS production to favor M. tuberculosis survival in macrophages. The findings that M. tuberculosis PPE2 protein is involved in the modulation of oxidative response in macrophages will help us in improving our knowledge of host-pathogen interactions and the application of better therapeutics against tuberculosis.