Maria Concetta Marturano

Dr. Maria Concetta Marturano

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Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

2Years (2025-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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Journal Article
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MCMario Cocorullo
Mario Cocorullo
Alessandro StamillaAlessandro Stamilla
Alessandro Stamilla
DRDeborah Recchia
Deborah Recchia
MMMaria Concetta Marturano
Maria Concetta Marturano
LMLudovica Maci
Ludovica Maci
Giovanni StelitanoGiovanni Stelitano
Giovanni Stelitano
Mycobacterium abscessus (Mab) is an opportunistic pathogen gaining increased importance due to its capacity to colonize the respiratory tract of patients with chronic lung diseases such as individuals with Cystic Fibrosis. The actual therapeutic regimen to treat Mab infections is based on repurposed drugs from therapies against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and avium. In addition to the need for new specific drugs against this bacterium, a possible strategy for shortening the therapeutic time and improving the success rate could be targeting Mab virulence factors. These drugs could become an important integration to the actual therapeutic regimen, helping the immune system to fight the infection. Moreover, this strategy applies a low selective pressure on the bacteria, since these elements are not essential for Mab survival but crucial for establishing the infection. This review aims to provide an overview of the Mab’s virulence factors that are poorly studied and mostly unknown, suggesting some interesting alternatives to classical drug development.