Abstract

Mycobacterium species poses threat globally and are the leading infectious agent world-wide. It’s success in establishing the infection owes to its highly developed strategies in invading the cell and evasion of host immune system, thus increasing the incidence and prevalence of disease. A classical and well conserved phenomenon is the generation of extra cellular vesicles in different bacterial species. In the context of Mycobacterium sp. pathogenesis these generated membrane vesicles have been extensively studied and are associated with various mechanisms that can modulate host immune responses. Their characterization has revealed that these membrane vesicles are released by them itself as well as triggered to be released by the bacilli-infected cells. Largely they are involved in intercellular communication and cargo transportation of different kinds. The pathways and signalling molecules typically modulated inside the host cells are the prime targets behind the success of different Mycobacterium sp in establishing the infection. This review is an attempt to elucidate the signalling pathway triggered leading to the generation of different kinds of membrane vesicles, their biochemical characterization, it’s implications to probable phenomena and conditions integral to pathogenesis. Several research studies have established these membrane vesicles as important candidate for vaccines and biomarkers. Collectively herein is focused the potential roles of the bacilli in effectively modulating the host immune machineries and being successful in surviving intracellularly with primarily emphasizing on membrane vesicles.