Patent ID: 8426580

Claim:
A process for inhibiting peptide deformylase activity and growth of mycobacteria, the process comprising the steps of: a. isolating a polynucleotide sequence from M. tuberculosis comprising nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide having peptide deformylase activity, wherein the polypeptide is present in different mycobacterial species including M. tuberculosis, M. smegmatis, M. bovis, M. avium , or M. leprae as represented by SEQ ID NOS: 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12 and having at least 90 to 95% sequence similarity thereto; b. identifying a region within the polynucleotide sequence isolated from step (a) involved in maintaining the enzymatic stability and functionality, the region being conserved in the mycobacterial species as given in step (a); c. preparing an antisense oligonucleotide or antisense oligonucleotide characterized in that the oligonucleotide consists of one or more phosphorothioate modified oligodeoxynucleotides comprising an antisense oligonucleotide fully complementary to a polynucleotide sequence encoding the mycobacterial peptide deformylase insertion sequence XTXRRRGVVINP (SEQ ID NO: 13), wherein X can be any naturally occurring amino acid, wherein the antisense oligonucleotde is fully complementary to the conserved region identified in step (b); and d. inhibiting peptide deformylase activity as well as growth of the mycobacteria using the antisense oligonucleotide prepared in step (c).