The application of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to parasite metabolism

Direct Measurement of Nucleoside Ribohydrolase Enzyme Activities in Trichomonas vaginalis Cells Using 19F and 13C-Edited 1H NMR Spectroscopy

Trichomoniasis is the most common nonviral sexually transmitted infection, affecting an estimated 275 million people worldwide. The causative agent is the parasitic protozoan Trichomonas vaginalis. Although the disease itself is typically mild, individuals with trichomonal infections have a higher susceptibility to more serious conditions. The emergence of parasite strains resistant to current therapies necessitates the need for novel treatment strategies. Since T. vaginalis is an obligate parasite that requires nucleoside salvage pathways, essential nucleoside ribohydrolase enzymes are promising new drug targets. Fragment screening and X-ray crystallography have enabled structure-guided design of inhibitors for two of these enyzmes. Linkage of enzymatic and antiprotozoal activity would be a transformative step toward designing novel, mechanism-based therapeutic agents. While a correlation with inhibition of purified enzyme would be mechanistically suggestive, a correlation with inhibition of in-cell enzyme activity would definitively establish this linkage. To demonstrate this linkage, we have translated our NMR-based activity assays that measure the activity of purified enzymes for use in T. vaginalis cells. The 19F NMR-based activity assay for the pyrimidine-specific enzyme translated directly to in-cell assays. However, the 1H NMR-based activity assay for the purine-specific enzyme required a switch from adenosine to guanosine substrate and the use of 13C-editing to resolve the substrate 1H signals from cell and growth media background signals. The in-cell NMR assays are robust and have been demonstrated to provide inhibition data on test compounds. The results described here represent the first direct measurement of enzyme activity in protozoan parasite cells.

Resveratrol is active against Leishmania amazonensis: in vitro effect of its association with Amphotericin B

Resveratrol is a polyphenol found in black grapes and red wine and has many biological activities. In this study, we evaluated the effect of resveratrol alone and in association with amphotericin B (AMB) against Leishmania amazonensis. Our results demonstrate that resveratrol possesses both antipromastigote and antiamastigote effects, with 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50s) of 27 and 42 μM, respectively. The association of resveratrol with AMB showed synergy for L. amazonensis amastigotes, as demonstrated by the mean sums of fractional inhibitory index concentration (mean ΣFIC) of 0.483, although for promastigotes, this association was indifferent. Treatment with resveratrol increased the percentage of promastigotes in the sub-G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle, reduced the mitochondrial potential, and showed an elevated choline peak and CH2-to-CH3 ratio in the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy analysis; all these features indicate parasite death. Resveratrol also decreased the activity of the enzyme arginase in uninfected and infected macrophages with and without stimulation with interleukin-4 (IL-4), also implicating arginase inhibition in parasite death. The anti-Leishmania effect of resveratrol and its potential synergistic association with AMB indicate that these compounds should be subjected to further studies of drug association therapy in vivo.

Advances in metabolic profiling of experimental nematode and trematode infections

Metabonomics, which is the combination of metabolic profiling of biological samples using spectroscopic methods, together with multivariate data analysis, is a powerful approach for biomarker recovery. Moreover, metabonomics holds promise to enhance our understanding of host-parasite interactions at the metabolic level, and therefore provides a framework for discovery of novel targets for diagnostics, drugs and vaccines. In this review, we summarise progress made to date with metabolic profiling strategies applied to different host-parasite models in the laboratory. First, we emphasise the application of two parasitic worm infections that are particularly relevant for Southeast Asia and the People's Republic of China, namely the trematode Schistosoma japonicum causing schistosomiasis, and the nematode Necator americanus causing hookworm disease. Next, we review metabolic profiling studies on the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica in the rat model, the intestinal fluke Echinostoma caproni harboured in mice and characterise the metabolic responses in the hamster to a S. japonicum-N. americanus co-infection. We extract parasite-specific biomarkers and distinguish them from a more general response to an infection at the biochemical level. For example, suppression of tricarboxylic acid cycle metabolites is only noted for a Schistosoma spp. infection, whereas alterations in metabolites derived from the gut microbiota are common for all the parasitic infections investigated thus far. Finally, we explore how the insight gained with experimental infections could be transferred to human populations and conclude with a section on research needs with regard to molecular diagnostics in parasitology.

Metabolite profiling of the intraerythrocytic malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum by (1)H NMR spectroscopy

NMR spectroscopy was used to identify and quantify compounds in extracts prepared from mature trophozoite-stage Plasmodium falciparum parasites isolated by saponin-permeabilisation of the host erythrocyte. One-dimensional (1)H NMR spectroscopy and four two-dimensional NMR techniques were used to identify more than 50 metabolites. The intracellular concentrations of over 40 metabolites were estimated from the (1)H NMR spectra of extracts prepared by four extraction methods: perchloric acid, methanol/water, methanol/chloroform/water, and methanol alone. The metabolites quantified included: the majority of the biological alpha-amino acids; 4-aminobutyric acid; mono-, di- and tri-carboxylic acids; nucleotides; polyamines; myo-inositol; and phosphocholine and phosphoethanolamine. The parasites also contained a significant concentration (up to 12 mM) of the exogenous buffering agent, HEPES. Although the metabolite profiles obtained with each extraction method were broadly similar, perchloric acid was found to have significant advantages over the other extraction media.

In vivo flow 31P FT-NMR spectroscopy of a nematode parasite

31P NMR spectroscopy of a parasitic nematode. Steinernema carpocapsae, is described. In vivo spectra were generated from nematode suspensions continuously circulating through the spectrometer. By flowing the organism, saturation effects were avoided and short interpulse delays significantly reduced spectral generation time. To maximize sensitivity, 90 degrees pulses were employed. Changes in energetic status in response to oxygen availability were easily and rapidly monitored in circulating nematodes.

A 31P nuclear magnetic resonance study of Crithidia luciliae

31P NMR has been used to observe phosphorus-containing compounds in both perchloric acid and KOH extracts and in whole cell suspensions of Crithidia luciliae. Cells were grown in Bone and Steinert medium, or in a modified RPMI culture medium and harvested after about 72 h in mid- to late log phase. 31P NMR spectra of the perchloric acid extracts indicated that 3-phosphoglycerate, which is normally at low concentrations in most cells, was the dominant phosphorus-containing compound in the sugar phosphate region. 3-Phosphoglycerate is the end product of glycosomal glycolysis and our finding is consistent with previous observations of the failure to detect prior glycolytic intermediates. Other metabolites observed were ATP, ADP, NAD(P)+, phosphoenolpyruvate and low molecular weight polyphosphates (PPn, n less than 20). The presence of high-molecular-weight polyphosphates was established by spectra recorded on extracts obtained through subsequent treatment of the insoluble fraction with KOH. 31P NMR experiments on whole cells indicated that the average main internal pH of cells in late-log growth phase was approx. pH 7.2 +/- 0.1, using the orthophosphate resonance as an indicator. The cells responded to the addition of glucose (final concentration approx. 35 mM) with a decrease in pH, both internal (delta pH = -0.9 (55 min)-1) and external (delta pH = -1.3 (15 min)-1). Polyphosphates and ATP could not be observed in whole cell experiments, although perchloric acid extracts of identically treated cells showed no significant depletion of these compounds.