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Almeida JR, Gomes A, Mendes B, Aguiar L, Ferreira M, Brioschi MBC, Duarte D, Nogueira F, Cortes S, Salazar-Valenzuela D, Miguel DC, Teixeira C, Gameiro P, Gomes P. Unlocking the potential of snake venom-based molecules against the malaria, Chagas disease, and leishmaniasis triad. Int J Biol Macromol 2023; 242:124745. [PMID: 37150376 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.124745] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Revised: 04/30/2023] [Accepted: 05/01/2023] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Malaria, leishmaniasis and Chagas disease are vector-borne protozoal infections with a disproportionately high impact on the most fragile societies in the world, and despite malaria-focused research gained momentum in the past two decades, both trypanosomiases and leishmaniases remain neglected tropical diseases. Affordable effective drugs remain the mainstay of tackling this burden, but toxicicty, inneficiency against later stage disease, and drug resistance issues are serious shortcomings. One strategy to overcome these hurdles is to get new therapeutics or inspiration in nature. Indeed, snake venoms have been recognized as valuable sources of biomacromolecules, like peptides and proteins, with antiprotozoal activity. This review highlights major snake venom components active against at least one of the three aforementioned diseases, which include phospholipases A2, metalloproteases, L-amino acid oxidases, lectins, and oligopeptides. The relevance of this repertoire of biomacromolecules and the bottlenecks in their clinical translation are discussed considering approaches that should increase the success rate in this arduous task. Overall, this review underlines how venom-derived biomacromolecules could lead to pioneering antiprotozoal treatments and how the drug landscape for neglected diseases may be revolutionized by a closer look at venoms. Further investigations on poorly studied venoms is needed and could add new therapeutics to the pipeline.
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Affiliation(s)
- José Rafael Almeida
- Biomolecules Discovery Group, Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam, Tena 150150, Ecuador.
| | - Ana Gomes
- LAQV-REQUIMTE, Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre 687, P-4169-007 Porto, Portugal.
| | - Bruno Mendes
- Biomolecules Discovery Group, Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam, Tena 150150, Ecuador
| | - Luísa Aguiar
- LAQV-REQUIMTE, Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre 687, P-4169-007 Porto, Portugal
| | - Mariana Ferreira
- LAQV-REQUIMTE, Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre 687, P-4169-007 Porto, Portugal.
| | | | - Denise Duarte
- Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, UNICAMP, Campinas, São Paulo 13083-862, Brazil.
| | - Fátima Nogueira
- Global Health and Tropical Medicine, GHTM, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, IHMT, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, UNL, Rua Junqueira 100, P-1349-008 Lisboa, Portugal.
| | - Sofia Cortes
- Global Health and Tropical Medicine, GHTM, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, IHMT, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, UNL, Rua Junqueira 100, P-1349-008 Lisboa, Portugal.
| | - David Salazar-Valenzuela
- Centro de Investigación de la Biodiversidad y Cambio Climático (BioCamb) e Ingeniería en Biodiversidad y Recursos Genéticos, Facultad de Ciencias de Medio Ambiente, Universidad Indoamérica, Quito 170103, Ecuador.
| | - Danilo C Miguel
- Centro de Investigación de la Biodiversidad y Cambio Climático (BioCamb) e Ingeniería en Biodiversidad y Recursos Genéticos, Facultad de Ciencias de Medio Ambiente, Universidad Indoamérica, Quito 170103, Ecuador.
| | - Cátia Teixeira
- LAQV-REQUIMTE, Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre 687, P-4169-007 Porto, Portugal
| | - Paula Gameiro
- LAQV-REQUIMTE, Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre 687, P-4169-007 Porto, Portugal.
| | - Paula Gomes
- LAQV-REQUIMTE, Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre 687, P-4169-007 Porto, Portugal.
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Siddiqui R, Maciver SK, Khan NA. Gut microbiome-immune system interaction in reptiles. J Appl Microbiol 2022; 132:2558-2571. [PMID: 34984778 DOI: 10.1111/jam.15438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2021] [Revised: 12/12/2021] [Accepted: 12/31/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Reptiles are ectothermic amniotes in a world dominated by endotherms. Reptiles originated more than 300 million years ago and they often dwell in polluted environments which may expose them to pathogenic micro-organisms, radiation and/or heavy metals. Reptiles also possess greater longevity and may live much longer than similar-sized land mammals, for example, turtles, tortoises, crocodiles and tuatara are long-lived reptiles living up to 100 years or more. Many recent studies have emphasized the pivotal role of the gut microbiome on its host; thus, we postulated that reptilian gut microbiome and/or its metabolites and the interplay with their robust immune system may contribute to their longevity and overall hardiness. Herein, we discuss the composition of the reptilian gut microbiome, immune system-gut microbiome cross-talk, antimicrobial peptides, reptilian resistance to infectious diseases and cancer, ageing, as well the current knowledge of the genome and epigenome of these remarkable species. Preliminary studies have demonstrated that microbial gut flora of reptiles such as crocodiles, tortoises, water monitor lizard and python exhibit remarkable anticancer and antibacterial properties, as well as comprise novel gut bacterial metabolites and antimicrobial peptides. The underlying mechanisms between the gut microbiome and the immune system may hold clues to developing new therapies overall for health, and possible extrapolation to exploit the ancient defence systems of reptiles for Homo sapiens benefit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruqaiyyah Siddiqui
- College of Arts and Sciences, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
| | - Sutherland K Maciver
- Centre for Discovery Brain Science, Edinburgh Medical School, Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Naveed Ahmed Khan
- Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
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