Currently Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infections result in the second most number of deaths after the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). One third of the world’s population are infected with Mtb, and 10% of those carry a lifetime risk of developing the disease. There is an urgent need for new efficacious and affordable chemotherapeutics, since current anti-tuberculosis drugs have serious side effects, difficulties with dosing regimes and they are unable to combat against resistant Mtb strains.
Herein, we present the use of electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (ESI-FTICR-MS) for screening the enriched library of lead-like enhanced natural product extracts from the Eskitis Nature Bank against Mtb targets. This research will help to discover natural compounds with the ability of inhibiting Mtb essential enzymes.