Professor David Minnikin Memorial Lecture: An era of the mycobacterial cell wall lipid biomarkers

Oona Y-C Lee, Houdini H.T. Wu, Gurdyal S. Besra*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

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Abstract

This paper is dedicated to the memory of Professor David Ernest Minnikin (1939–2021). David was one of the key scientists who pioneered the field of Mycobacterium tuberculosis cell envelope research for over half a century. From the classification, identification, and extraction of the unusual lipids of the mycobacterial cell wall, to exploiting them as characteristic lipid biomarkers for sensitive detection, his ideas enlightened a whole world of possibilities within the tuberculosis (TB) field. In addition, his definition of the intricate models now forms a key milestone in our understanding of the M. tuberculosis cell envelope and has resolved many unanswered questions on the evolution of M. tuberculosis.
Original languageEnglish
Article number102415
Number of pages6
JournalTuberculosis
Volume143
Issue numberSupplement
Early online date25 Nov 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2023

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements:
The authors would like to thank Professor György Pálfi (University of Szeged, Hungary) and his team for acknowledging David's contribution to the field over the years, as well as offering the opportunity to present this work in the memorial session at the third International Conference on the Evolution and Paleoepidemiology of tuberculosis (ICEPT) held in Szeged, Hungary in July 2022. These research projects were supported by the UK Medical Research Council (MR/S000542) and Leverhulme Trust (F/00094/BL).

Keywords

  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis
  • Cell envelope
  • Lipids
  • Mycolic acids
  • Cell wall

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