# Innate, Transcriptomic, and Microbiomic correlates of TB infection

> **NIH NIH U19** · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · 2020 · $866,176

## Abstract

The lifecycle of M. tuberculosis within the human host is marked by critical transition points between the
major phases of infection: Initial infection, latent disease, active tuberculosis, and resolution with antibiotic
therapy. Through observation of patients in each of these stages, we have some knowledge about host
determinants that maintain each of these stages, such as the need for sufficient CD4 T cells, interferon
gamma and tumor necrosis factor alpha in the control of latency. However, the vast majority of HIV negative
TB patients do not have defined deficiencies in these immune factors and therefore the host determinants of
the heterogeneous ability of TB patients to control M. tuberculosis infection, either in the context of initial
infection after exposure, reactivation of latent infection, or relapse-free elimination of M. tuberculosis after
antimicrobial therapy, are unknown. To address these knowledge gaps, we have assembled a set of patient
cohorts to examine three interrelated host factors that we hypothesize may contribute to the heterogeneity in
host control of M. tuberculosis during the transition from uninfected> LTBl and infected>cured. These
factors are Mucosal Associated Invariant T (MAIT) cells, whole blood transcriptomic signatures, and stool
microbiomic composition. We will initially examine these factors in two cohorts of TB patients: 1) Patients
either resistant to initial infection or recently infected from a household contact, a comparison which will yield
correlates of innate resistance to infection and 2) Patients undergoing therapy for active pulmonary
tuberculosis, either with short course monotherapy or standard multidrug therapy, to determine correlates of
clearance of replicating and persister M. tuberculosis. We anticipate that these studies will provide a set of
quantitative molecular assays that will both expand our knowledge of the heterogeneity of host control of M.
tuberculosis infection, and potentially supply biomarkers that will allow identification of patients resistant to
infection, destined to reactivate from latency, or to relapse after antimicrobial therapy.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10057812
- **Project number:** 5U19AI111143-07
- **Recipient organization:** WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV
- **Principal Investigator:** Michael Haggai Glickman
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $866,176
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2014-07-01 → 2021-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10057812

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10057812, Innate, Transcriptomic, and Microbiomic correlates of TB infection (5U19AI111143-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10057812. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*