{"id":350805,"date":"2025-08-17T04:25:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T04:25:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/350805\/"},"modified":"2025-08-17T04:25:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T04:25:18","slug":"scientists-map-tbs-global-evolution-paving-way-for-targeted-vaccines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/350805\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists map TB’s global evolution, paving way for targeted vaccines"},"content":{"rendered":"

Study finds eight genetic variations in TB bacteria linked to different world regions \u2014 breakthrough could improve vaccines and treatments.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bioscientists have discovered eight genetic clues in TB bacteria that show how the disease evolved alongside humans. It could lead to new vaccines and treatments adapted for different geographic regions.<\/p>\n

The study, in Communications Biology, reveals that a protein called PPE50 appears in eight distinct versions across global TB strains \u2014 with each variant tied to a different part of the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first time a TB protein has been shown to evolve in parallel with its human host populations in fine detail,\u201d said Dr Anthony Tsolaki at Brunel University of London. \u201cOur approach can be used to overcome the problem of existing vaccines underperforming in some regions \u2014 and help us design new ones that don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gives us a blueprint for how TB has adapted to different populations over time. This could reshape how we develop vaccines and treatments \u2014 not just one-size-fits-all but tailored to where people live.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team from Brunel and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine analysed 387 well-characterised TB strains from around the world, modelling their PPE50 variants and predicting how each one might behave. The team identified an ancestral version of the protein \u2014 called PPE50-381 \u2014 found in both ancient and modern lineages of the TB strains. This makes it a rare molecular \u2018bridge\u2019 between early and globally dominant strains.<\/p>\n

The paper coins a new term \u2014 \u201cphylogeographic-associated protein\u201d (PAP) \u2014 which means there is a genetic pattern that mirrors where the disease spreads \u2014 and gives insights into how TB adapts to different host populations. It suggests the bacterium has changed in step with the people it infects \u2014 in different places, over thousands of years.<\/p>\n

People often talk about TB \u2018strains\u2019, notes Dr Tsolaki. But what really matters is lineage \u2014 the bigger genetic branches that show how the bacteria evolved and spread. When the team looked at this family tree, one protein stood out. PPE50-381 shows up in both ancient and modern lineages, which makes it unique. It\u2019s like a molecular time traveller \u2014 a version of the protein that\u2019s survived through thousands of years of evolution. \u201cAs far as we know, it\u2019s the first time anyone\u2019s tracked a TB protein like this across the full sweep of the disease\u2019s history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuberculosis (TB) is still one of the world\u2019s deadliest infectious diseases, with an estimated 10 million cases and 1.3 million deaths a year. There remains an urgent need for effective vaccines and improved treatments to one day eradicate this ancient disease.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n


\n Reported by:
\n Press Office, Media Relations<\/a>
\n
press-office@brunel.ac.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Study finds eight genetic variations in TB bacteria linked to different world regions \u2014 breakthrough could improve vaccines…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350806,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3846],"tags":[267,70,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-350805","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-genetics","8":"tag-genetics","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115042210736391856","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}