Mycobacterium tuberculosis proteases and implications for new antibiotics against tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis remains a global health concern. Effective novel therapeutics are urgently needed to tackle the inexorable increase of multidrug resistant and extensively drug-resistant strains and HIV coinfection. Most proteases are important for Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence involving in the evasion or subversion of host defenses and/or tissue degradation, therefore they are ideal candidates for new drug targets. To explore this possibility, we summarize the functions of Mycobacterium tuberculosis proteases, especially their roles in pathogenesis and as inhibitors during different clinical stages.