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Palencia A, Bougdour A, Brenier-Pinchart MP, Touquet B, Bertini RL, Sensi C, Gay G, Vollaire J, Josserand V, Easom E, Freund YR, Pelloux H, Rosenthal PJ, Cusack S, Hakimi MA. Targeting Toxoplasma gondii CPSF3 as a new approach to control toxoplasmosis. EMBO Mol Med 2017; 9:385-394. [PMID: 28148555 PMCID: PMC5331205 DOI: 10.15252/emmm.201607370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii is an important food and waterborne pathogen causing toxoplasmosis, a potentially severe disease in immunocompromised or congenitally infected humans. Available therapeutic agents are limited by suboptimal efficacy and frequent side effects that can lead to treatment discontinuation. Here we report that the benzoxaborole AN3661 had potent in vitro activity against T. gondii. Parasites selected to be resistant to AN3661 had mutations in TgCPSF3, which encodes a homologue of cleavage and polyadenylation specificity factor subunit 3 (CPSF‐73 or CPSF3), an endonuclease involved in mRNA processing in eukaryotes. Point mutations in TgCPSF3 introduced into wild‐type parasites using the CRISPR/Cas9 system recapitulated the resistance phenotype. Importantly, mice infected with T. gondii and treated orally with AN3661 did not develop any apparent illness, while untreated controls had lethal infections. Therefore, TgCPSF3 is a promising novel target of T. gondii that provides an opportunity for the development of anti‐parasitic drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrés Palencia
- Institute for Advanced Biosciences (IAB), Team Host-Pathogen Interactions & Immunity to Infection, INSERM U1209, CNRS UMR 5309, Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France .,European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Grenoble Outstation and Unit of Virus Host-Cell Interactions, University of Grenoble-EMBL-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Grenoble Cedex 9, France
| | - Alexandre Bougdour
- Institute for Advanced Biosciences (IAB), Team Host-Pathogen Interactions & Immunity to Infection, INSERM U1209, CNRS UMR 5309, Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
| | - Marie-Pierre Brenier-Pinchart
- Institute for Advanced Biosciences (IAB), Team Host-Pathogen Interactions & Immunity to Infection, INSERM U1209, CNRS UMR 5309, Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
| | - Bastien Touquet
- Institute for Advanced Biosciences (IAB), Team Host-Pathogen Interactions & Immunity to Infection, INSERM U1209, CNRS UMR 5309, Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
| | - Rose-Laurence Bertini
- Institute for Advanced Biosciences (IAB), Team Host-Pathogen Interactions & Immunity to Infection, INSERM U1209, CNRS UMR 5309, Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
| | - Cristina Sensi
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Grenoble Outstation and Unit of Virus Host-Cell Interactions, University of Grenoble-EMBL-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Grenoble Cedex 9, France
| | - Gabrielle Gay
- Institute for Advanced Biosciences (IAB), Team Host-Pathogen Interactions & Immunity to Infection, INSERM U1209, CNRS UMR 5309, Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
| | - Julien Vollaire
- Institute for Advanced Biosciences (IAB), OPTIMAL Small Animal Imaging Facility, Grenoble, France
| | - Véronique Josserand
- Institute for Advanced Biosciences (IAB), OPTIMAL Small Animal Imaging Facility, Grenoble, France
| | - Eric Easom
- Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc., Palo Alto, CA, USA
| | | | - Hervé Pelloux
- Institute for Advanced Biosciences (IAB), Team Host-Pathogen Interactions & Immunity to Infection, INSERM U1209, CNRS UMR 5309, Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
| | - Philip J Rosenthal
- Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Stephen Cusack
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Grenoble Outstation and Unit of Virus Host-Cell Interactions, University of Grenoble-EMBL-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Grenoble Cedex 9, France
| | - Mohamed-Ali Hakimi
- Institute for Advanced Biosciences (IAB), Team Host-Pathogen Interactions & Immunity to Infection, INSERM U1209, CNRS UMR 5309, Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
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A potent antimalarial benzoxaborole targets a Plasmodium falciparum cleavage and polyadenylation specificity factor homologue. Nat Commun 2017; 8:14574. [PMID: 28262680 PMCID: PMC5343452 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 95] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2016] [Accepted: 01/10/2017] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Benzoxaboroles are effective against bacterial, fungal and protozoan pathogens. We report potent activity of the benzoxaborole AN3661 against Plasmodium falciparum laboratory-adapted strains (mean IC50 32 nM), Ugandan field isolates (mean ex vivo IC50 64 nM), and murine P. berghei and P. falciparum infections (day 4 ED90 0.34 and 0.57 mg kg−1, respectively). Multiple P. falciparum lines selected in vitro for resistance to AN3661 harboured point mutations in pfcpsf3, which encodes a homologue of mammalian cleavage and polyadenylation specificity factor subunit 3 (CPSF-73 or CPSF3). CRISPR-Cas9-mediated introduction of pfcpsf3 mutations into parental lines recapitulated AN3661 resistance. PfCPSF3 homology models placed these mutations in the active site, where AN3661 is predicted to bind. Transcripts for three trophozoite-expressed genes were lost in AN3661-treated trophozoites, which was not observed in parasites selected or engineered for AN3661 resistance. Our results identify the pre-mRNA processing factor PfCPSF3 as a promising antimalarial drug target. Benzoxaboroles have been shown to be active against different pathogens. Here, the authors show that the benzoxaborole AN3661 inhibits Plasmodium falciparum in vitro and in mouse models, and identify a homologue of a mammalian cleavage and polyadenylation specificity factor as a drug target.
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