Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is an intracellular
pathogen that infects 10 million people worldwide and
kills 2 million people every year. The uptake and utilization of nutrientsby Mtb within thehost cell is stillpoorly
understood,althoughlipidsplayanimportantroleinMtb
persistence.Therecentidentificationofalargeregulonof
cholesterol catabolic genes suggests that Mtb can use
hoststerolforinfectionandpersistence.Inthisreview,we
report on recent progress in elucidation of the Mtb cholesterol catabolic reactions and their potential utility as
targets for tuberculosis therapeutic agents