Life sciences · Journal article

Mycobacterium marinum as a surrogate model for tuberculosis pathogenesis and drug discovery

Microbial Pathogenesis · August 4, 2026

Hypothesis-Generating Why this matters to you Expert discussion

Raises a question worth testing. It does not answer one.

AI Summary

This is a narrative review article that synthesizes the rationale and applications of Mycobacterium marinum as a preclinical surrogate model for tuberculosis research. The source describes shared virulence mechanisms with M. tuberculosis and technical advantages (compatibility with macrophages, zebrafish, real-time visualization) but reports no primary experimental results, efficacy data, or comparative outcomes.

What was studied

Journal article. Not applicable; review article describing a research model, not a study of human or animal subjects..

Key findings

M. marinum shares key virulence determinants with M. tuberculosis, including ESX-1-dependent secretion, intracellular survival strategies, lipid-mediated immune modulation, and granulomatous disease induction M. marinum is compatible with diverse experimental systems from macrophage cultures to genetically tractable vertebrate hosts such as zebrafish M. marinum provides a platform for phenotypic drug screening, host-directed therapeutic discovery, and early in vivo evaluation of antimicrobial candidates

Safety

Safety was not reported in the material analysed. Check the source before drawing any conclusion about harm.

Who this may help

This review positions M. marinum within preclinical drug discovery pipelines but does not report clinical efficacy, translate to human TB treatment, or provide evidence for changing clinical practice. Readers should understand this as a tool discussion, not evidence of therapeutic benefit.

Plain-language summary

This is a narrative review synthesizing existing evidence about M. marinum as a research model, not reporting primary research data, clinical outcomes, or efficacy comparisons; it raises questions about optimal use rather than answering them.

Clinical bottom line

Caveats

No primary experimental data, effect sizes, or quantitative comparisons reported
No discussion of how findings from M. marinum models translate to M. tuberculosis or human TB outcomes
Limitations of the surrogate model not detailed in the provided text
No specific drug candidates or clinical translation examples provided

Evidence assessment

Graded across the dimensions that decide whether you should act, each from what the source actually supports. There is no single score, and where a dimension was not assessed it says so.

Study design

insufficient

Review article; no primary experimental design reported.

Directness

limited

Discusses a surrogate model, not direct TB pathogenesis or patient outcomes.

Consistency

insufficient

No systematic comparison of conflicting findings across studies presented.

Risk of bias

insufficient

Review format; no formal quality assessment of included studies reported.

Sample adequacy

insufficient

No quantitative data or sample sizes reported in source text.

What is missing. This record has no reported figures. That is a gap in the analysis, not a judgement about the study.

Source abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a leading cause of infectious disease mortality worldwide, driven by the emergence of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) strains and the limited efficacy of current therapeutic strategies. Over the past two decades, Mycobacterium marinum (M. marinum), a close genetic relative of Mtb, has emerged as a powerful surrogate model for investigating conserved mechanisms of TB pathogenesis and accelerating early-stage therapeutic discovery. As a naturally pathogenic mycobacterium, M. marinum shares key virulence determinants with Mtb, including ESX-1-dependent secretion, intracellular survival strategies, lipid-mediated immune modulation, and the ability to induce granulomatous disease. Its compatibility with diverse experimental systems-ranging from macrophage cultures to genetically tractable vertebrate hosts such as zebrafish-enables real-time visualization of host-pathogen interactions, granuloma dynamics, immune regulation, and bacterial dissemination in vivo. In addition to mechanistic pathogenesis studies, M. marinum provides a scalable platform for phenotypic drug screening, host-directed therapeutic discovery, and early in vivo evaluation of antimicrobial candidates, thereby bridging the gap between in vitro assays and mammalian infection models. This review synthesizes recent advances in the use of M. marinum across pathogenesis research, functional genomics, and drug discovery, critically examining its strengths, limitations, and optimal positioning within multi-tiered tuberculosis research pipelines.

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Ashok Aspatwar