Tuberculosis is the biggest bacterial killer worldwide. 1.5 million people die from TB each year due, in part, to a rise in antibiotic resistant strains, some of which are untreatable with antibiotics.

Using a human tuberculosis skin test model that caused a localized immune response with collaborators in UCL, it was found that one member of the Tribbles protein family—Tribbles1—was regulated by infection challenge. Using zebrafish larval models of tuberculosis, they found that if Tribbles 1 levels were increased during infection, it protected the host against tuberculosis.

This suggests that regulating the Tribbles 1 protein could favorably influence the immune response and have a significant effect on the treatment of tuberculosis.

While Tribbles proteins have been linked to immunity for some time, their roles in bacterial infections such as tuberculosis have not previously been demonstrated. Our study uncovers an important role for Tribbles 1 in our immune defense against pathogens, opening the door for further studies investigating targeting these proteins with drugs as a new way of treating antibiotic resistant infections.