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Kumari D, Kour P, Singh CP, Choudhary R, Ali SM, Bhayye S, Bharitkar YP, Singh K. Anhydroparthenin as a dual-target inhibitor against Sterol C-24 methyltransferase and Sterol 14-α demethylase of Leishmania donovani: A comprehensive in vitro and in silico study. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 269:132034. [PMID: 38702006 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.132034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2024] [Revised: 04/22/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/06/2024]
Abstract
Parthenium hysterophorus plant has a diverse chemical profile and immense bioactive potential. It exhibits excellent pharmacological properties such as anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-malarial, microbicidal, and anti-trypanosomal. The present study aims to evaluate the anti-leishmanial potential and toxicological safety of anhydroparthenin isolated from P. hysterophorus. Anydroparthenin was extracted from the leaves of P. hysterophorus and characterized through detailed analysis of 1H, 13C NMR, and HRMS. Dye-based in vitro and ex vivo assays confirmed that anhydroparthenin significantly inhibited both promastigote and amastigote forms of the Leishmania donovani parasites. Both the cytotoxicity experiment and hemolytic assay revealed its non-toxic nature and safety index in the range of 10 to 15. Further, various mechanistic assays suggested that anhydroparthenin led to the generation of oxidative stress, intracellular ATP depletion, alterations in morphology and mitochondrial membrane potential, formation of intracellular lipid bodies, and acidic vesicles, ultimately leading to parasite death. As a dual targeting approach, computational studies and sterol quantification assays confirmed that anhydroparthenin inhibits the Sterol C-24 methyl transferase and Sterol 14-α demethylase proteins involved in the ergosterol biosynthesis in Leishmania parasites. These results suggest that anhydroparthenin could be a promising anti-leishmanial molecule and can be developed as a novel therapeutic stratagem against leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diksha Kumari
- Infectious Diseases Division, CSIR- Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu 180001, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India
| | - Parampreet Kour
- Infectious Diseases Division, CSIR- Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu 180001, India
| | - Chetan Paul Singh
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India; Natural Products & Medicinal Chemistry Division, CSIR- Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu 180001, India
| | - Rinku Choudhary
- Department of Bioinformatics, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of I.T. and Biotechnology, Bharati Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University), Pune, Maharashtra 411046, India
| | - Syed Mudassir Ali
- Pharmacology Division, CSIR- Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu 180001, India
| | - Sagar Bhayye
- Department of Bioinformatics, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of I.T. and Biotechnology, Bharati Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University), Pune, Maharashtra 411046, India
| | - Yogesh P Bharitkar
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India; Natural Products & Medicinal Chemistry Division, CSIR- Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu 180001, India.
| | - Kuljit Singh
- Infectious Diseases Division, CSIR- Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu 180001, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India.
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Nawaz A, Priya B, Singh K, Ali V. Unveiling the role of serine o-acetyltransferase in drug resistance and oxidative stress tolerance in Leishmania donovani through the regulation of thiol-based redox metabolism. Free Radic Biol Med 2024; 213:371-393. [PMID: 38272324 DOI: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2024.01.039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2023] [Revised: 12/25/2023] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024]
Abstract
Understanding the unique metabolic pathway of L. donovani is crucial for comprehending its biology under oxidative stress conditions. The de novo cysteine biosynthetic pathway of L. donovani is absent in humans and its product, cysteine regulates the downstream components of trypanothione-based thiol metabolism, important for maintaining cellular redox homeostasis. The role of serine o-acetyl transferase (SAT), the first enzyme of this pathway remains unexplored. In order to investigate the role of SAT protein, we cloned SAT gene into pXG-GFP+ vector for episomal expression of SAT in Amphotericin B sensitive L. donovani promastigotes. The SAT overexpression was confirmed by SAT enzymatic assay, GFP fluorescence, immunoblotting and PCR. Our study unveiled an upregulated expression of both LdSAT and LdCS of cysteine biosynthetic pathway and other downstream thiol pathway proteins in LdSAT-OE promastigotes. Additionally, there was an increase in enzymatic activities of LdSAT and LdCS proteins in LdSAT-OE, which was found similar to the Amp B resistant parasites, indicating a potential role of SAT protein in modulating drug resistance. We observed that the overexpression of SAT in Amp B sensitive parasites increases tolerance to drug pressure and oxidative stress via trypanothione-dependent antioxidant mechanism. Moreover, the in vitro J774A.1 macrophage infectivity assessment showed that SAT overexpression augments parasite infectivity. In LdSAT-OE promastigotes, antioxidant enzyme activities like APx and SOD were upregulated, intracellular reactive oxygen species were reduced with a corresponding increase in thiol level, emphasizing SAT's role in stress tolerance and enhanced infectivity. Additionally, the ROS mediated upregulation in the expression of LdSAT, LdCS, LdTryS and LdcTXNPx proteins reveals an essential cross talk between SAT and proteins of thiol metabolism in combating oxidative stress and maintaining redox homeostasis. Taken together, our results provide the first insight into the role of SAT protein in parasite infectivity and survival under drug pressure and oxidative stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Afreen Nawaz
- ICMR - Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS), Patna, Bihar, 800007, India
| | - Bhawna Priya
- ICMR - Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS), Patna, Bihar, 800007, India
| | - Kuljit Singh
- Infectious Diseases Division, CSIR - Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu, 180001, India
| | - Vahab Ali
- ICMR - Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS), Patna, Bihar, 800007, India.
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Opperdoes FR, Záhonová K, Škodová-Sveráková I, Bučková B, Chmelová Ľ, Lukeš J, Yurchenko V. In silico prediction of the metabolism of Blastocrithidia nonstop, a trypanosomatid with non-canonical genetic code. BMC Genomics 2024; 25:184. [PMID: 38365628 PMCID: PMC10874023 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-024-10094-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2023] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 02/18/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Almost all extant organisms use the same, so-called canonical, genetic code with departures from it being very rare. Even more exceptional are the instances when a eukaryote with non-canonical code can be easily cultivated and has its whole genome and transcriptome sequenced. This is the case of Blastocrithidia nonstop, a trypanosomatid flagellate that reassigned all three stop codons to encode amino acids. RESULTS We in silico predicted the metabolism of B. nonstop and compared it with that of the well-studied human parasites Trypanosoma brucei and Leishmania major. The mapped mitochondrial, glycosomal and cytosolic metabolism contains all typical features of these diverse and important parasites. We also provided experimental validation for some of the predicted observations, concerning, specifically presence of glycosomes, cellular respiration, and assembly of the respiratory complexes. CONCLUSIONS In an unusual comparison of metabolism between a parasitic protist with a massively altered genetic code and its close relatives that rely on a canonical code we showed that the dramatic differences on the level of nucleic acids do not seem to be reflected in the metabolisms. Moreover, although the genome of B. nonstop is extremely AT-rich, we could not find any alterations of its pyrimidine synthesis pathway when compared to other trypanosomatids. Hence, we conclude that the dramatic alteration of the genetic code of B. nonstop has no significant repercussions on the metabolism of this flagellate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fred R Opperdoes
- de Duve Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Kristína Záhonová
- Life Science Research Centre, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czechia
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czechia
- Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, BIOCEV, Vestec, Czechia
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
| | - Ingrid Škodová-Sveráková
- Life Science Research Centre, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czechia
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czechia
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Barbora Bučková
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Ľubomíra Chmelová
- Life Science Research Centre, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czechia
| | - Julius Lukeš
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czechia
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czechia
| | - Vyacheslav Yurchenko
- Life Science Research Centre, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czechia.
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Gupta P, Mansuri R, Priydarshni P, Behera S, Zaidi A, Nehar S, Sahoo GC, Pandey K, Ali V. Interaction between Cfd1 and Nbp35 proteins involved in cytosolic FeS cluster assembly machinery deciphers a stable complexation in Leishmania donovani. Int J Biol Macromol 2023; 253:127073. [PMID: 37774824 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.127073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2023] [Revised: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 09/23/2023] [Indexed: 10/01/2023]
Abstract
Leishmania donovani is the causative unicellular parasite for visceral leishmaniasis (VL); and FeS proteins are likely to be very essential for their survival and viability. Cytosolic FeS cluster assembly (CIA) machinery is one of the four systems for the biosynthesis and transfer of FeS clusters among eukaryotes; Cfd1 and Nbp35 are the scaffold components for cytosolic FeS cluster biogenesis. We investigated the role of CIA machinery components and purified Cfd1 and Nbp35 proteins of L. donovani. We also investigated the interactive nature between LdCfd1 and LdNbp35 proteins by in silico analysis, in vitro co-purification, pull down assays along with in vivo immuno-precipitation; which inferred that both LdCfd1 and LdNbp35 proteins are interacting with each other. Thus, our collective data revealed the interaction between these two proteins which forms a stable complex that can be attributed to the cellular process of FeS clusters biogenesis, and transfer to target apo-proteins of L. donovani. The expression of Cfd1 and Nbp35 proteins in Amp B resistant parasites is up-regulated leading to increased amount of FeS proteins. Hence, it favors increased tolerance towards ROS level, which helps parasites survival under drug pressure contributing in Amphotericin B resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Parool Gupta
- Laboratory of Molecular Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Department of Biochemistry, ICMR-Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS), Agam Kuan, Patna 800007, India
| | - Rani Mansuri
- Department of Bio-informatics, ICMR-Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS), Agam Kuan, Patna 800007, India
| | - Priya Priydarshni
- Laboratory of Molecular Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Department of Biochemistry, ICMR-Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS), Agam Kuan, Patna 800007, India
| | - Sachidananda Behera
- Laboratory of Molecular Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Department of Biochemistry, ICMR-Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS), Agam Kuan, Patna 800007, India
| | - Amir Zaidi
- Laboratory of Molecular Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Department of Biochemistry, ICMR-Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS), Agam Kuan, Patna 800007, India
| | - Shamshun Nehar
- Laboratory of Molecular Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Department of Biochemistry, ICMR-Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS), Agam Kuan, Patna 800007, India
| | - Ganesh Chandra Sahoo
- Department of Bio-informatics, ICMR-Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS), Agam Kuan, Patna 800007, India
| | - Krishna Pandey
- Department of Clinical Medicine, ICMR-Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS), Agam Kuan, Patna 800007, India
| | - Vahab Ali
- Laboratory of Molecular Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Department of Biochemistry, ICMR-Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS), Agam Kuan, Patna 800007, India.
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Kour P, Saha P, Bhattacharya S, Kumari D, Debnath A, Roy A, Sharma DK, Mukherjee D, Singh K. Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of 3,3'-diindolylmethane N-linked glycoconjugate as a leishmanial topoisomerase IB inhibitor with reduced cytotoxicity. RSC Med Chem 2023; 14:2100-2114. [PMID: 37859718 PMCID: PMC10583832 DOI: 10.1039/d3md00214d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2023] [Accepted: 08/25/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Leishmaniasis, one of the neglected diseases, ranks second to malaria in the cause of parasitic mortality and morbidity. The present chemotherapeutic regimen faces the limitations of drug resistance and toxicity concerns, raising a great need to develop new chemotherapeutic leads that are orally administrable, potent, non-toxic, and cost-effective. Several research groups came forward to fill this therapeutic gap with new classes of active compounds against leishmaniasis, one such being 3,3'-diindolylmethane (DIM) derivatives. We tried to link this concept with another promising approach of glycoconjugation to study how glycosylated groups work differently from non-glycosylated ones. In the present study, a series of 3,3'-DIM derivatives have been synthesized and screened for their anti-leishmanial potency on Leishmania donovani promastigotes. Next, we synthesized the β-N,N' glycoside of potent compound 3d using indole-indoline conversion, Fischer-type glycosylation, 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquionone (DDQ) oxidation, and molecular iodine catalyzed coupling with a suitable aldehyde in reasonable overall yield. The biological evaluation revealed that glycosides had reduced cytotoxic effects on the J774A.1 macrophage cell line. The enzyme inhibition study confirms that the glycoside derivatives have significant inhibitory activity against the leishmanial topoisomerase IB enzyme. Molecular docking further displayed the better binding efficiency of glycoside 13 with the target enzyme, suggesting the involvement of more H-bond interactions in the case of glycosides as compared to free drugs. Therefore, this work helps in proposing the fact that the addition of sugar moieties adds some favorable characteristics to free inhibitors, making it a promising approach for future clinical diagnostic and therapeutic applications, which can prove to be a valuable arsenal in combating such neglected diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Parampreet Kour
- Infectious Diseases Division, CSIR - Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine Canal Road Jammu 180001 India +91 191 2585006 13 Ext: 333
| | - Pallavi Saha
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Banaras Hindu University Varanasi-221005 India
| | - Srija Bhattacharya
- Natural Products & Medicinal Chemistry Division, CSIR - Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine Jammu 180001 India
| | - Diksha Kumari
- Infectious Diseases Division, CSIR - Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine Canal Road Jammu 180001 India +91 191 2585006 13 Ext: 333
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR) Ghaziabad-201002 India
| | - Abhipsa Debnath
- Department of Biotechnology, Savitribai Phule Pune University Pune-411007 India
| | - Amit Roy
- Department of Biotechnology, Savitribai Phule Pune University Pune-411007 India
| | - Deepak K Sharma
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Banaras Hindu University Varanasi-221005 India
| | - Debaraj Mukherjee
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR) Ghaziabad-201002 India
- Department of Chemical Sciences, Unified Academic Campus, Bose Institute Kolkata 700091 India
| | - Kuljit Singh
- Infectious Diseases Division, CSIR - Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine Canal Road Jammu 180001 India +91 191 2585006 13 Ext: 333
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR) Ghaziabad-201002 India
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Ma H, Song Y, Zhang Y, Guo H, Lv G, Chen H, Liu J, Liu X, An Z, Wang L, Xu Q, Jiao C, Chen P. Critical Sites of Serine Acetyltransferase in Lathyrus sativus L. Affecting Its Enzymatic Activities. JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY 2023; 71:7858-7865. [PMID: 37163296 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.3c00678] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
LsSAT2 (serine acetyltransferase in Lathyrus sativus) is the rate-limiting enzyme in biosynthesis of β-N-oxalyl-l-α,β-diaminopropionic acid (β-ODAP), a neuroactive metabolite distributed widely in several plant species including Panax notoginseng, Panax ginseng, and L. sativus. The enzymatic activity of LsSAT2 is post-translationally regulated by its involvement in the cysteine regulatory complex in mitochondria via interaction with β-CAS (β-cyanoalanine synthase). In this study, the binding sites of LsSAT2 with the substrate Ser were first determined as Glu290, Arg316, and His317 and the catalytic sites were determined as Asp267, Asp281, and His282 via site-directed/truncated mutagenesis, in vitro enzymatic activity assay, and functional complementation of the SAT-deficient Escherichia coli strain JM39. Furthermore, the C-terminal 10-residue peptide of LsSAT2 is confirmed to be critical to interact with LsCAS, and Ile336 in C10 peptide is the critical amino acid. These results will enhance our understanding of the regulation of LsSAT2 activities and the biosynthesis of β-ODAP in L. sativus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hao Ma
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Yaoyao Song
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
- College of Enology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Ying Zhang
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Huiying Guo
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Guowen Lv
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Hong Chen
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Jiayi Liu
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Xiaoning Liu
- School of Medicine, Huanghe S&T University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450063, China
| | - Zhenfeng An
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Lei Wang
- School of Ecology and Environment, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710072, China
| | - Quanle Xu
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Chengjin Jiao
- College of Bioengineering and Biotechnology, Tianshui Normal University, Tianshui, Gansu 741000, China
| | - Peng Chen
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
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Ali V, Behera S, Nawaz A, Equbal A, Pandey K. Unique thiol metabolism in trypanosomatids: Redox homeostasis and drug resistance. ADVANCES IN PARASITOLOGY 2022; 117:75-155. [PMID: 35878950 DOI: 10.1016/bs.apar.2022.04.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Trypanosomatids are mainly responsible for heterogeneous parasitic diseases: Leishmaniasis, Sleeping sickness, and Chagas disease and control of these diseases implicates serious challenges due to the emergence of drug resistance. Redox-active biomolecules are the endogenous substances in organisms, which play important role in the regulation of redox homeostasis. The redox-active substances like glutathione, trypanothione, cysteine, cysteine persulfides, etc., and other inorganic intermediates (hydrogen peroxide, nitric oxide) are very useful as defence mechanism. In the present review, the suitability of trypanothione and other essential thiol molecules of trypanosomatids as drug targets are described in Leishmania and Trypanosoma. We have explored the role of tryparedoxin, tryparedoxin peroxidase, ascorbate peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and glutaredoxins in the anti-oxidant mechanism and drug resistance. Up-regulation of some proteins in trypanothione metabolism helps the parasites in survival against drug pressure (sodium stibogluconate, Amphotericin B, etc.) and oxidative stress. These molecules accept electrons from the reduced trypanothione and donate their electrons to other proteins, and these proteins reduce toxic molecules, neutralize reactive oxygen, or nitrogen species; and help parasites to cope with oxidative stress. Thus, a better understanding of the role of these molecules in drug resistance and redox homeostasis will help to target metabolic pathway proteins to combat Leishmaniasis and trypanosomiases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vahab Ali
- Laboratory of Molecular Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Department of Biochemistry, ICMR-Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS), Patna, Bihar, India.
| | - Sachidananda Behera
- Laboratory of Molecular Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Department of Biochemistry, ICMR-Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS), Patna, Bihar, India
| | - Afreen Nawaz
- Laboratory of Molecular Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Department of Biochemistry, ICMR-Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS), Patna, Bihar, India
| | - Asif Equbal
- Laboratory of Molecular Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Department of Biochemistry, ICMR-Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS), Patna, Bihar, India; Department of Botany, Araria College, Purnea University, Purnia, Bihar, India
| | - Krishna Pandey
- Department of Clinical Medicine, ICMR-Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS), Patna, Bihar, India
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Pyne N, Paul S. Screening of medicinal plants unraveled the leishmanicidal credibility of Garcinia cowa; highlighting Norcowanin, a novel anti-leishmanial phytochemical through in-silico study. J Parasit Dis 2022; 46:202-214. [PMID: 35299910 PMCID: PMC8901847 DOI: 10.1007/s12639-021-01441-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2021] [Accepted: 08/07/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Leishmaniasis, one of the most prevalent yet neglected parasitic causes of death, yearns for therapeutic control and treatment. Severely toxic and inefficient modern-day pentavalent antimonials, caters the search for naturally derived drugs, as efficient alternatives for disease treatment. The anti-promastigote activity of ten different plants selected for their ethnomedicinal properties revealed significant leishmanicidal capacity; the most potent being Garcinia cowa methanolic extract with an IC50 value of 21.4 µg/ml. Garcinia cowa, a plant endemic to North-Eastern India that is of the Clusiaceae family, is replete with such medicinal qualities as antimicrobial, antiviral, antiparasitic, and antiproliferative activities. Computational biology with its tools such as molecular docking has opened new horizons aimed at a better understanding of biological systems, complexes, and their interactions, and subsequently drug discovery via in silico techniques. Therefore, an in-silico study was designed to evaluate the binding capability of six phytochemicals- cowanin, cowanol, cowaxanthone, norcowanin, rubraxanthone, and a basic xanthone, found in Garcinia cowa against Pentamidine, a synthetic anti-leishmanial drug. The active sites of three characteristic enzymes belonging to the Leishmania donovani parasite: O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase (OASS), Trypanothione reductase (TryR), and N-Myristoyltransferase (NMT) were chosen as target proteins. Results revealed lower binding energies and higher affinities, of nearly all the phytochemicals with respect to Pentamidine, indicating their leishmanicidal potential. Norcowanin showed the lowest average binding of - 9.8 kcal/mol against all the three enzymes under study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nibedita Pyne
- Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology, Department of Botany, Centre of Advanced Study, University of Calcutta, 35 Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata, 700019 India
| | - Santanu Paul
- Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology, Department of Botany, Centre of Advanced Study, University of Calcutta, 35 Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata, 700019 India
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Téllez J, Amarillo A, Suarez C, Cardozo C, Guerra D, Ochoa R, Muskus C, Romero I. Prediction of potential cysteine synthase inhibitors of Leishmania braziliensis and Leishmania major parasites by computational screening. Acta Trop 2022; 225:106182. [PMID: 34627756 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2021.106182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2021] [Revised: 09/29/2021] [Accepted: 10/01/2021] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease considered a public health problem that requires innovative strategies for its chemotherapeutic control. In the present investigation, a molecular docking approach was carried out using the protein cysteine synthase (CS) of Leishmania braziliensis (CSLb) and Leishmania major (CSLm) parasites to identify new compounds as potential candidates for the development of selective leishmaniasis therapy. CS protein sequence similarity, active site, structural modeling, molecular docking, and ADMET properties of compounds were analyzed using bioinformatics tools. Molecular docking analyses identified 1000 ligands with highly promising binding affinity scores for both CS proteins. A total of 182 compounds for CSLb and 173 for CSLm were selected for more detailed characterization based on the binding energy and frequency values and ADMET properties. Based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and K-means clusterization for both CS proteins, we classified compounds into 5 clusters for CSLb and 7 for CSLm, thus providing an excellent starting point for verification of enzyme inhibition in in vitro studies. We found the ZINC16524774 compound predicted to have a high affinity and stability for both CSLb and CSLm proteins, which was also evaluated through molecular dynamics simulations. Compounds within each of the five clusters also displayed pharmacological and structural properties that make them attractive drug candidates for the development of selective cutaneous leishmaniasis chemotherapy.
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Lv H, Hu L, Xu J, Bo T, Wang W. Identification and functional analysis of the mitochondrial cysteine synthase TtCsa2 from Tetrahymena thermophila. J Cell Biochem 2021; 122:1817-1831. [PMID: 34427342 DOI: 10.1002/jcb.30136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2021] [Revised: 08/03/2021] [Accepted: 08/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Cysteine is a crucial component for all organisms and plays a critical role in the structure, stability, and catalytic functions of many proteins. Tetrahymena has reverse transsulfuration and de novo pathways for cysteine biosynthesis. Cysteine synthase is involved in the de novo cysteine biosynthesis and catalyzes the production of cysteine from O-acetylserine. The novel cysteine synthase TtCSA2 was identified from Tetrahymena thermophila. The TtCSA2 showed high expression levels at the log-phase and the sexual development stage. The TtCsa2 was localized on the outer mitochondrial membrane throughout different developmental stages. However, the truncated N-terminal signal peptide mutant TtCsa2-ΔN23 was localized into the mitochondria. His-TtCsa2 was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified using affinity chromatography. The His-TtCsa2 showed O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase and serine sulfhydrylase activities. Cysteine and glutathione contents decreased in the csa2KD mutant. Furthermore, mutant cells were sensitive to cadmium and copper stresses. This study indicated that the TtCSA2 was involved in the cysteine synthesis in mitochondria and related to heavy metal stresses resistance in Tetrahymena.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongrui Lv
- School of Life Science, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China.,Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Institute of Biotechnology, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China
| | - Lina Hu
- Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Institute of Biotechnology, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China
| | - Jing Xu
- School of Life Science, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China.,Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Institute of Biotechnology, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China
| | - Tao Bo
- Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Institute of Biotechnology, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China
| | - Wei Wang
- Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Institute of Biotechnology, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China
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Lv H, Xu J, Bo T, Wang W. Characterization of Cystathionine β-Synthase TtCbs1 and Cysteine Synthase TtCsa1 Involved in Cysteine Biosynthesis in Tetrahymena thermophila. J Eukaryot Microbiol 2020; 68:e12834. [PMID: 33190347 DOI: 10.1111/jeu.12834] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2020] [Revised: 10/21/2020] [Accepted: 11/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Cysteine is implicated in important biological processes. It is synthesized through two different pathways. Cystathionine β-synthase and cystathionine γ-lyase participate in the reverse transsulfuration pathway, while serine acetyltransferase and cysteine synthase function in the de novo pathway. Two evolutionarily related pyridoxal 5'-phosphate-dependent enzymes, cystathionine β-synthase TtCBS1 (TTHERM_00558300) and cysteine synthase TtCSA1 (TTHERM_00239430), were identified from a freshwater protozoan Tetrahymena thermophila. TtCbs1 contained the N-terminal heme binding domain, catalytic domain, and C-terminal regulatory domain, whereas TtCsa1 consisted of two α/β domains. The catalytic core of the two enzymes is similar. TtCBS1 and TtCSA1 showed high expression levels in the vegetative growth stage and decreased during the sexual developmental stage. TtCbs1 and TtCsa1 were localized in the cytoplasm throughout different developmental stages. His-TtCbs1 and His-TtCsa1 were expressed and purified in vitro. TtCbs1 catalyzed the canonical reaction with the highest velocity and possessed serine sulfhydrylase activity. TtCsa1 showed cysteine synthase activity with high Km for O-acetylserine and low Km for sulfide and also had serine sulfhydrylase activity toward serine. Both TtCbs1 and TtCsa1 catalyzed hydrogen sulfide producing. TtCBS1 knockdown and TtCSA1 knockout mutants affected cysteine and glutathione synthesis. TtCbs1 and TtCsa1 are involved in cysteine synthesis through two different pathways in T. thermophila.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongrui Lv
- School of Life Science, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, 030006, China.,Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Institute of Biotechnology, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, 030006, China
| | - Jing Xu
- School of Life Science, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, 030006, China.,Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Institute of Biotechnology, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, 030006, China
| | - Tao Bo
- Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Institute of Biotechnology, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, 030006, China
| | - Wei Wang
- Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Institute of Biotechnology, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, 030006, China
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12
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Douanne N, Wagner V, Roy G, Leprohon P, Ouellette M, Fernandez-Prada C. MRPA-independent mechanisms of antimony resistance in Leishmania infantum. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR PARASITOLOGY-DRUGS AND DRUG RESISTANCE 2020; 13:28-37. [PMID: 32413766 PMCID: PMC7225602 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpddr.2020.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2020] [Revised: 03/25/2020] [Accepted: 03/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Control of both human and canine leishmaniasis is based on a very short list of chemotherapeutic agents, headed by antimonial derivatives (Sb). The utility of these molecules is severely threatened by high rates of drug resistance. The ABC transporter MRPA is one of the few key Sb resistance proteins described to date, whose role in detoxification has been thoroughly studied in Leishmania parasites. Nonetheless, its rapid amplification during drug selection complicates the discovery of other mechanisms potentially involved in Sb resistance. In this study, stepwise drug-resistance selection and next-generation sequencing were combined in the search for novel Sb-resistance mechanisms deployed by parasites when MRPA is abolished by targeted gene disruption. The gene mrpA is not essential in L. infantum, and its disruption leads to an Sb hypersensitive phenotype in both promastigotes and amastigotes. Five independent mrpA-/- mutants were selected for antimony resistance. These mutants displayed major changes in their ploidy, as well as extrachromosomal linear amplifications of the subtelomeric region of chromosome 23, which includes the genes coding for ABCC1 and ABCC2. Overexpression of ABCC2, but not of ABCC1, resulted in increased Sb tolerance in the mrpA-/- mutant. SNP analyses revealed three different heterozygous mutations in the gene coding for a serine acetyltransferase (SAT) involved in de novo cysteine synthesis in Leishmania. Overexpression of satQ390K, satG321R and satG325R variants led to a 2-3.2 -fold increase in Sb resistance in mrpA-/- parasites. Only satG321R and satG325R induced increased Sb resistance in wild-type parasites. These results reinforce and expand knowledge on the complex nature of Sb resistance in Leishmania parasites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noélie Douanne
- Département de Pathologie et Microbiologie, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada
| | - Victoria Wagner
- Département de Pathologie et Microbiologie, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada
| | - Gaetan Roy
- Centre de Recherche en Infectiologie du Centre de Recherche du CHU Québec and Département de Microbiologie, Infectiologie et Immunologie, Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, Québec, Québec, Canada
| | - Philippe Leprohon
- Centre de Recherche en Infectiologie du Centre de Recherche du CHU Québec and Département de Microbiologie, Infectiologie et Immunologie, Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, Québec, Québec, Canada
| | - Marc Ouellette
- Centre de Recherche en Infectiologie du Centre de Recherche du CHU Québec and Département de Microbiologie, Infectiologie et Immunologie, Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, Québec, Québec, Canada
| | - Christopher Fernandez-Prada
- Département de Pathologie et Microbiologie, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
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13
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Suman SS, Amit A, Singh KP, Gupta P, Equbal A, Kumari A, Topno RK, Ravidas V, Pandey K, Bimal S, Das P, Ali V. Cytosolic tryparedoxin of Leishmania donovani modulates host immune response in visceral leishmaniasis. Cytokine 2018; 108:1-8. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cyto.2018.03.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2017] [Revised: 02/28/2018] [Accepted: 03/10/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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14
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Yeon JY, Yoo SJ, Takagi H, Kang HA. A Novel Mitochondrial Serine O-Acetyltransferase, OpSAT1, Plays a Critical Role in Sulfur Metabolism in the Thermotolerant Methylotrophic Yeast Ogataea parapolymorpha. Sci Rep 2018; 8:2377. [PMID: 29402922 PMCID: PMC5799214 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-20630-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2017] [Accepted: 01/22/2018] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
In most bacteria and plants, direct biosynthesis of cysteine from sulfide via O-acetylserine (OAS) is essential to produce sulfur amino acids from inorganic sulfur. Here, we report the functional analysis of a novel mitochondrial serine O-acetyltransferase (SAT), responsible for converting serine into OAS, in the thermotolerant methylotrophic yeast Ogataea parapolymorpha. Domain analysis of O. parapolymorpha SAT (OpSat1p) and other fungal SATs revealed that these proteins possess a mitochondrial targeting sequence (MTS) at the N-terminus and an α/β hydrolase 1 domain at the C-terminal region, which is quite different from the classical SATs of bacteria and plants. Noticeably, OpSat1p is functionally interchangeable with Escherichia coli SAT, CysE, despite that it displays much less enzymatic activity, with marginal feedback inhibition by cysteine, compared to CysE. The Opsat1Δ-null mutant showed remarkably reduced intracellular levels of cysteine and glutathione, implying OAS generation defect. The MTS of OpSat1p directs the mitochondrial targeting of a reporter protein, thus, supporting the localization of OpSat1p in the mitochondria. Intriguingly, the OpSat1p variant lacking MTS restores the OAS auxotrophy, but not the cysteine auxotrophy of the Opsat1Δ mutant strain. This is the first study on a mitochondrial SAT with critical function in sulfur assimilatory metabolism in fungal species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ji Yoon Yeon
- Department of Life Science, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, 06974, Korea
| | - Su Jin Yoo
- Department of Life Science, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, 06974, Korea
| | - Hiroshi Takagi
- Graduate School of Biological Sciences, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Nara, 630-0192, Japan.
| | - Hyun Ah Kang
- Department of Life Science, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, 06974, Korea.
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15
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Singh K, Ali V, Pratap Singh K, Gupta P, Suman SS, Ghosh AK, Bimal S, Pandey K, Das P. Deciphering the interplay between cysteine synthase and thiol cascade proteins in modulating Amphotericin B resistance and survival of Leishmania donovani under oxidative stress. Redox Biol 2017; 12:350-366. [PMID: 28288415 PMCID: PMC5349463 DOI: 10.1016/j.redox.2017.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2017] [Accepted: 03/03/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Leishmania donovani is the causative organism of the neglected human disease known as visceral leishmaniasis which is often fatal, if left untreated. The cysteine biosynthesis pathway of Leishmania may serve as a potential drug target because it is different from human host and regulates downstream components of redox metabolism of the parasites; essential for their survival, pathogenicity and drug resistance. However, despite the apparent dependency of redox metabolism of cysteine biosynthesis pathway, the role of L. donovani cysteine synthase (LdCS) in drug resistance and redox homeostasis has been unexplored. Herein, we report that over-expression of LdCS in Amphotericin B (Amp B) sensitive strain (S1-OE) modulates resistance towards oxidative stress and drug pressure. We observed that antioxidant enzyme activities were up-regulated in S1-OE parasites and these parasites alleviate intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) efficiently by maintaining the reduced thiol pool. In contrast to S1-OE parasites, Amp B sensitive strain (S1) showed higher levels of ROS which was positively correlated with the protein carbonylation levels and negatively correlated with cell viability. Moreover, further investigations showed that LdCS over-expression also augments the ROS-primed induction of LdCS-GFP as well as endogenous LdCS and thiol pathway proteins (LdTryS, LdTryR and LdcTXN) in L. donovani parasites; which probably aids in stress tolerance and drug resistance. In addition, the expression of LdCS was found to be up-regulated in Amp B resistant isolates and during infective stationary stages of growth and consistent with these observations, our ex vivo infectivity studies confirmed that LdCS over-expression enhances the infectivity of L. donovani parasites. Our results reveal a novel crosstalk between LdCS and thiol metabolic pathway proteins and demonstrate the crucial role of LdCS in drug resistance and redox homeostasis of Leishmania. Over-expression of CS in L. donovani modulates oxidative stress & Amp B resistance. Over-expressing parasite possess higher thiol to counteract the oxidative stress. Over-expressing parasites showed increased activity of TXNPx, GST, SOD, and APx. Expression/activity of LdCS is up-regulated in Amp B resistant clinical isolates. Ex vivo results confirm that LdCS over-expression enhance the parasites infectivity. Over-expressing parasites survived long time under oxidative stress conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kuljit Singh
- Laboratory of Molecular Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Department of Biochemistry, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Agamkuan, Patna 800007, India; Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, EPIP Complex, Hajipur 844102, India
| | - Vahab Ali
- Laboratory of Molecular Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Department of Biochemistry, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Agamkuan, Patna 800007, India; Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, EPIP Complex, Hajipur 844102, India.
| | - Krishn Pratap Singh
- Laboratory of Molecular Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Department of Biochemistry, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Agamkuan, Patna 800007, India
| | - Parool Gupta
- Laboratory of Molecular Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Department of Biochemistry, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Agamkuan, Patna 800007, India
| | - Shashi S Suman
- Laboratory of Molecular Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Department of Biochemistry, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Agamkuan, Patna 800007, India
| | - Ayan K Ghosh
- Department of Molecular Biology, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Agamkuan, Patna 800007, India
| | - Sanjiva Bimal
- Department of Immunology, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Agamkuan, Patna 800007, India
| | - Krishna Pandey
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Agamkuan, Patna 800007, India
| | - Pradeep Das
- Department of Molecular Biology, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Agamkuan, Patna 800007, India
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