Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) employs an extensive network of more than 90 toxin–antitoxin systems, and among them, VapC toxins are the most abundant. While most VapCs function as classical RNases with toxic effects, a significant number of them do not exhibit toxicity. However, these non-toxic VapCs may retain specific RNA binding abilities as seen in case of VapC16, leading to ribosome stalling at specific codons and reprofiling M. tb's proteome to aid in the bacterium's survival under different stressful conditions within the host. Here, we challenge the conventional classification of all VapC toxins as RNases and highlight the complexity of M. tb's strategies for survival and adaptation during infection.

结核分枝杆菌( M. tb ) 拥有一个由 90 多个毒素-抗毒素系统组成的广泛网络，其中 VapC 毒素最为丰富。虽然大多数 VapC 的功能与经典 RNase 一样具有毒性作用，但其中相当一部分不表现出毒性。然而，这些无毒的 VapC 可能保留特定的 RNA 结合能力，如 VapC16 所示，导致核糖体在特定密码子处停滞并重新分析结核分枝杆菌的蛋白质组，以帮助细菌在宿主内不同的应激条件下生存。在这里，我们挑战了所有 VapC 毒素作为 RNase 的传统分类，并强调了结核分枝杆菌在感染过程中生存和适应策略的复杂性。