Gas chromatography and Mass spectroscopy based detection of autoinducer-2 like molecule in the circulation of tuberculosis infected cases

Abstract

Autoinducers play a vital role in Mycobacterium tuberculosis by mediating the cell to cell communications resulting in the processes like biofilm formation, virulence and pathogenesis. The autoinducer-2 is a highly instable molecule which undergoes cyclization and often remains in undetectable concentrations. The present study is focused on the isolation and identification of autoinducer-2 (4,5-dihydroxy-2,3-pentanedione ) and similar molecules by Gas chromatography and Mass spectroscopy. The GCMS analysis also revealed the presence of 1,5 bis(trimethyl trisilyl)1,5-pentanedione in the sera of the tuberculosis positive, the lipid extract of M. tuberculosis cells showed the presence of  4,4 dimethyl 1-phenyl-1,3-pentanedione. However, in either cases, these molecules were separated and detected in the Rtx-5MS, cross bonded with 5% diphenyl and 95% dimethyl polysiloxane (30m, 0.25 mm ID, 0.25µm) in a splitless mode.The study concludes that Mycobacterium infection also leads to the release of autoinducer like molecules in the circulation, which can be used as a diagnostic marker or can be targeted to inhibit the bacterial colonies in the host tissue.