1
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Duffin RN, Andrews PC. Structure-activity effects in the anti-leishmanial activity of di-alkyl gallium quinolin-8-olates. Dalton Trans 2023; 52:15848-15858. [PMID: 37828871 DOI: 10.1039/d3dt02542j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/14/2023]
Abstract
Six (G1-G6) novel organogallium complexes of the general formula [Ga(R)2quin] (where R = Et, iPr, nBu, tBu, sBu and hexyl; quin = quinolin-8-olate, C9H6NO) have been synthesised and fully characterised. Single crystal X-ray diffraction shows the complexes adopt a five-coordinate geometry through dimerisation. Complexes G1-G5 were analytically pure and could undergo further biological analysis. [Ga(hex)2quin] G6 could not be satisfactorily purified and was excluded from biological assays. 1H NMR spectroscopy indicated the complexes are stable to hydrolysis over 24 hours in 'wet' d6-DMSO. Complexes G1-G5 were assessed for their anti-leishmanial activity towards three separate strains: L. major, L. amazonensis and L. donovani, with varied results toward the promastigote form. G1 and G2 were found to be the most selective with little to no toxicity towards mammalian cell lines. Amastigote invasion assays on the three strains showed that [Ga(nBu)2quin] G3 and [Ga(tBu)2quin] G4 gave the best all round anti-parasitic activity with percentage infection ranges of 1.50-3.00% and 3.25-7.50% respectively, with G3 out-performing the drug control amphotericin B in all three assays. The activity was found to correlate with lipophilicity and water solubility, with the most effective G3 proving the most lipophilic and least water soluble.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebekah N Duffin
- School of Chemistry, Monash University, Clayton, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia.
| | - Philip C Andrews
- School of Chemistry, Monash University, Clayton, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia.
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Seifu GW, Birhan YS, Beshay BY, Hymete A, Bekhit AA. Synthesis, antimalarial, antileishmanial evaluation, and molecular docking study of some 3-aryl-2-styryl substituted-4(3H)-quinazolinone derivatives. BMC Chem 2022; 16:107. [PMID: 36461074 PMCID: PMC9716151 DOI: 10.1186/s13065-022-00903-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2022] [Accepted: 11/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Quinazolinones are a diverse group of nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds with promising antimalarial and antileishmanial activities. Herein, some 3-aryl-2-styryl substituted-4(3H)-quinazolinones were synthesized via cyclization, condensation, and hydrolysis reactions. 1H NMR, FTIR and elemental microanalysis was used to verify the structures of the synthesized compounds. The in vivo antimalarial and in vitro antileishmanial activities of the target compounds were investigated using mice infected with Plasmodium berghi ANKA and Leishmania donovani strain, respectively. Among the test compounds, 8 and 10 showed better antimalarial activities with percent suppression of 70.01 and 74.18, respectively. In addition, (E)-2-(4-nitrostyryl)-3-phenylquinazolin-4(3H)-one (6) showed promising antileishmanial activity (IC50 = 0.0212 µg/mL). It is two and 150 times more active than the standard drugs amphotericin B deoxycholate (IC50 = 0.0460 µg/mL) and miltefosine (IC 50 = 3.1911 µg/mL), respectively. Its superior in vitro antileishmanial activity was supported by a molecular docking study conducted in the active site of Lm-PTR1. Overall, the synthesized 3-aryl-2-styryl substituted-4(3H)-quinazolinones showed promising antileishmanial and antimalarial activities and are desirable scaffolds for the synthesis of different antileishmanial and antimalarial agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Girma Worku Seifu
- grid.449044.90000 0004 0480 6730Department of Chemistry, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Debre Markos University, P.O. Box 269, Debre Markos, Ethiopia
| | - Yihenew Simegniew Birhan
- grid.449044.90000 0004 0480 6730Department of Chemistry, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Debre Markos University, P.O. Box 269, Debre Markos, Ethiopia
| | - Botros Youssef Beshay
- grid.442567.60000 0000 9015 5153Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, Alexandria, 21913 Egypt
| | - Ariaya Hymete
- grid.7123.70000 0001 1250 5688Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Adnan Ahmed Bekhit
- grid.7155.60000 0001 2260 6941Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, Alexandria, 21215 Egypt ,grid.413060.00000 0000 9957 3191Pharmacy Program, Allied Health Department, College of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Bahrain, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain
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3
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Xanthine Analogs Suppress Trypanosoma cruzi Infection In Vitro Using PDEs as Targets. MICROBIOLOGY RESEARCH 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/microbiolres13040052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi), the causative agent of Chagas disease, has infected 6 million people, putting 70 million people at risk worldwide. Presently, very limited drugs are available, and these have severe side effects. Hence, there is an urgency to delve into other pathways and targets for novel drugs. Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi) expresses a number of different cyclic AMP (cAMP)-specific phosphodiesterases (PDEs). cAMP is one of the key regulators of mammalian cell proliferation and differentiation, and it also plays an important role in T. cruzi growth. Very few studies have demonstrated the important role of cyclic nucleotide-specific PDEs in T. cruzi’s survival. T. cruzi phosphodiesterase C (TcrPDEC) has been proposed as a potential new drug target for treating Chagas disease. In the current study, we screen several analogs of xanthine for potency against trypomastigote and amastigote growth in vitro using three different strains of T. cruzi (Tulahuen, Y and CA-1/CL72). One of the potent analogs, GVK14, has been shown to inhibit all three strains of amastigotes in host cells as well as axenic cultures. In conclusion, xanthine analogs that inhibit T. cruzi PDE may provide novel alternative therapeutic options for Chagas disease.
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Alpizar-Sosa EA, Ithnin NRB, Wei W, Pountain AW, Weidt SK, Donachie AM, Ritchie R, Dickie EA, Burchmore RJS, Denny PW, Barrett MP. Amphotericin B resistance in Leishmania mexicana: Alterations to sterol metabolism and oxidative stress response. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2022; 16:e0010779. [PMID: 36170238 PMCID: PMC9581426 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010779] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2022] [Revised: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 08/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Amphotericin B is increasingly used in treatment of leishmaniasis. Here, fourteen independent lines of Leishmania mexicana and one L. infantum line were selected for resistance to either amphotericin B or the related polyene antimicrobial, nystatin. Sterol profiling revealed that, in each resistant line, the predominant wild-type sterol, ergosta-5,7,24-trienol, was replaced by other sterol intermediates. Broadly, two different profiles emerged among the resistant lines. Whole genome sequencing then showed that these distinct profiles were due either to mutations in the sterol methyl transferase (C24SMT) gene locus or the sterol C5 desaturase (C5DS) gene. In three lines an additional deletion of the miltefosine transporter gene was found. Differences in sensitivity to amphotericin B were apparent, depending on whether cells were grown in HOMEM, supplemented with foetal bovine serum, or a serum free defined medium (DM). Metabolomic analysis after exposure to AmB showed that a large increase in glucose flux via the pentose phosphate pathway preceded cell death in cells sustained in HOMEM but not DM, indicating the oxidative stress was more significantly induced under HOMEM conditions. Several of the lines were tested for their ability to infect macrophages and replicate as amastigote forms, alongside their ability to establish infections in mice. While several AmB resistant lines showed reduced virulence, at least two lines displayed heightened virulence in mice whilst retaining their resistance phenotype, emphasising the risks of resistance emerging to this critical drug.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edubiel A. Alpizar-Sosa
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology, School of Infection & Immunity, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
- Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Nur Raihana Binti Ithnin
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology, School of Infection & Immunity, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Wenbin Wei
- Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew W. Pountain
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology, School of Infection & Immunity, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
- Institute for Computational Medicine, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York City, New York, United States of America
| | - Stefan K. Weidt
- Glasgow Polyomics, College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Garscube Estate, Bearsden, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Anne M. Donachie
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology, School of Infection & Immunity, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Ryan Ritchie
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology, School of Infection & Immunity, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Emily A. Dickie
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology, School of Infection & Immunity, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
- Glasgow Polyomics, College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Garscube Estate, Bearsden, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Richard J. S. Burchmore
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology, School of Infection & Immunity, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
- Glasgow Polyomics, College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Garscube Estate, Bearsden, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Paul W. Denny
- Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Michael P. Barrett
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology, School of Infection & Immunity, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
- Glasgow Polyomics, College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Garscube Estate, Bearsden, Glasgow, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
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Dantas RF, Torres-Santos EC, Silva FP. Past and future of trypanosomatids high-throughput phenotypic screening. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 2022; 117:e210402. [PMID: 35293482 PMCID: PMC8920514 DOI: 10.1590/0074-02760210402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2021] [Accepted: 12/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Diseases caused by trypanosomatid parasites affect millions of people mainly living in developing countries. Novel drugs are highly needed since there are no vaccines and available treatment has several limitations, such as resistance, low efficacy, and high toxicity. The drug discovery process is often analogous to finding a needle in the haystack. In the last decades a so-called rational drug design paradigm, heavily dependent on computational approaches, has promised to deliver new drugs in a more cost-effective way. Paradoxically however, the mainstay of these computational methods is data-driven, meaning they need activity data for new compounds to be generated and available in databases. Therefore, high-throughput screening (HTS) of compounds still is a much-needed exercise in drug discovery to fuel other rational approaches. In trypanosomatids, due to the scarcity of validated molecular targets and biological complexity of these parasites, phenotypic screening has become an essential tool for the discovery of new bioactive compounds. In this article we discuss the perspectives of phenotypic HTS for trypanosomatid drug discovery with emphasis on the role of image-based, high-content methods. We also propose an ideal cascade of assays for the identification of new drug candidates for clinical development using leishmaniasis as an example.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafael Ferreira Dantas
- Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Laboratório de Bioquímica Experimental de Computacional de Fármacos, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
| | - Eduardo Caio Torres-Santos
- Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Laboratório de Bioquímica de Tripanosomatídeos, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
| | - Floriano Paes Silva
- Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Laboratório de Bioquímica Experimental de Computacional de Fármacos, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
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Serine proteases profiles of Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis clinical isolates with distinct susceptibilities to antimony. Sci Rep 2021; 11:14234. [PMID: 34244581 PMCID: PMC8271011 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-93665-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2021] [Accepted: 06/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Glucantime (SbV) is the first-line treatment against American Tegumentary Leishmaniasis. Resistance cases to this drug have been reported and related to host characteristics and parasite phenotypes. In this study, 12 Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis isolates from patients that presented clinical cure (Responders—R) and relapse or therapeutic failure (Non-responders—NR) after treatment with antimony, were analyzed. These parasites were assessed by in vitro susceptibility to SbIII and SbV, serine proteases activity measured with substrate (z-FR-AMC) and specific inhibitors (TLCK, AEBSF and PMSF). In vitro susceptibility of axenic amastigotes to SbIII showed a significant difference between R and NR groups. The protease assays showed that TLCK inhibited almost 100% of activity in both axenic amastigotes and promastigotes while AEBSF inhibited around 70%, and PMSF showed lower inhibition of some isolates. Principal component and clustering analysis performed with these data yielded one homogeneous cluster with only NR isolates and three heterogeneous clusters with R and NR isolates. Additionally, differential expression of subtilisins (LbrM.13.0860 and LbrM.28.2570) and TXNPx (LbrM.15.1080) was evaluated in promastigotes and axenic amastigotes from both groups. The results showed a higher expression of LbrM.13.0860 and LbrM.15.1080 genes in axenic amastigotes, while LbrM.28.2570 gene had the lowest expression in all isolates, regardless of the parasite form. The data presented here show a phenotypic heterogeneity among the parasites, suggesting that exploration of in vitro phenotypes based on SbIII and serine proteases profiles can aid in the characterization of L. (V.) braziliensis clinical isolates.
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Development of new combination anti-leishmanial complexes: Triphenyl Sb(V) mono-hydroxy mono-quinolinolates. J Inorg Biochem 2021; 219:111385. [PMID: 33894637 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2021.111385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2020] [Revised: 01/20/2021] [Accepted: 01/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
In seeking to develop single entity combination anti-Leishmanial complexes six heteropletic organometallic Sb(V) hydroxido quinolinolate complexes of general formula [SbPh3(C9H4NORR')(OH)] have been synthesised and characterised, derived from a series of halide substituted quinolinols (8-hydroxyquinolines). Single crystal X-ray diffraction on all the complexes show a common distorted six-coordinate octahedral environment at the Sb(V) centre, with the aryl groups and nitrogen atom of quinolinolate ligand bonding in the equatorial planes, with the two oxygen atoms (hydroxyl and quinolinolate) occupying the axial plane in an almost linear configuration. Each complex was tested for their anti-promastigote activity and mammalian cytotoxicity and a selectivity indices established. The complexes displayed excellent anti-promastigote activity (IC50: 2.03-3.39 μM) and varied mammalian cytotoxicity (IC50: 12.7-46.9 μM), leading to a selectivity index range of 4.52-16.7. All complexes displayed excellent anti-amastigote activity with a percentage infection range of 2.25%-9.00%. All complexes performed substantially better than the parent quinolinols and comparable carboxylate complexes [SbPh3(O2CRR')2] indicating the synergistic role of the Sb(V) and quinolinol moieties in increasing parasite mortality. Two of the complexes [SbPh3(C9H4NOBr2)(OH)] 4, [SbPh3(C9H4NOI2)(OH)] 5, provide an ideal combination of high selective and good activity towards the leishmanial amastigotes and offer the potential as good lead compounds.
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8
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Silva AD, Ambrozin ARP, de Camargo AFS, Cruz FDPN, Ferreira LLG, Krogh R, Silva TL, Camargo ILBDC, Andricopulo AD, Vieira PC. Liquid Fungal Cocultivation as a Strategy to Access Bioactive Metabolites. PLANTA MEDICA 2021; 87:187-195. [PMID: 32645738 DOI: 10.1055/a-1200-2046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Fungi are a rich source of bioactive compounds. Fungal cocultivation is a method of potentiating chemical interactions and, consequently, increasing bioactive molecule production. In this study, we evaluated the bactericidal, antiprotozoal, and cathepsin V inhibition activities of extracts from axenic cultures of 6 fungi (Fusarium guttiforme, Pestalotiopsis diospyri, Phoma caricae-papayae, Colletotrichum horii, Phytophthora palmivora, and C. gloeosporioides) that infest tropical fruits and 57 extracts obtained by their cocultivation. Our results reveal that fungal cocultivation enhances the biological activity of the samples, since all extracts that were active on Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, Trypanosoma cruzi, and Leishmania infantum were obtained from cocultivation. Bacterial growth is either totally or partially inhibited by 46% of the extracts. Two extracts containing mainly fusaric and 9,10-dehydrofusaric acids were particularly active. The presence of the fungus F. guttiforme in co-cultures that give rise to extracts with the highest activities against L. infantum. An axenic culture gave rise to the most active extract for the inhibition of cathepsin V; however, other coculture extracts also exhibited activity toward this biological target. Therefore, the results of the biological activities indicate that fungal cocultivation increased the biological potential of samples, likely due to the hostile and competitive environment that pushes microorganisms to produce substances important for defense and allows access to metabolic routes then silenced in milder cultivation conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Airton Damasceno Silva
- Department of Chemistry, Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | | | | | | | | | - Renata Krogh
- São Carlos Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo (USP), São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | - Taynara Lopes Silva
- Department of BioMolecular Sciences, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo (USP), Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil
| | | | | | - Paulo Cezar Vieira
- Department of Chemistry, Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), São Carlos, SP, Brazil
- Department of BioMolecular Sciences, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo (USP), Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil
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9
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Antileishmanial macrolides from ant-associated Streptomyces sp. ISID311. Bioorg Med Chem 2021; 32:116016. [PMID: 33493972 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2021.116016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2020] [Revised: 01/04/2021] [Accepted: 01/07/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Three antifungal macrolides cyphomycin (1), caniferolide C (2) and GT-35 (3) were isolated from Streptomyces sp. ISID311, a bacterial symbiont associated with Cyphomyrmex fungus-growing ants. The planar structures of these compounds were established by 1 and 2D NMR data and MS analysis. The relative configurations of 1-3 were established using Kishi's universal NMR database method, NOE/ROE analysis and coupling constants analysis assisted by comparisons with NMR data of related compounds. Detailed bioinformatic analysis of cyphomycin biosynthetic gene cluster confirmed the stereochemical assignments. Compounds 1-3 displayed high antagonism against different strains of Escovopsis sp., pathogen fungi specialized to the fungus-growing ant system. Compounds 1-3 also exhibited potent antiprotozoal activity against intracellular amastigotes of the human parasite Leishmania donovani with IC50 values of 2.32, 0.091 and 0.073 µM, respectively, with high selectivity indexes.
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Ortega HE, Ferreira LLG, Melo WGP, Oliveira ALL, Ramos Alvarenga RF, Lopes NP, Bugni TS, Andricopulo AD, Pupo MT. Antifungal compounds from Streptomyces associated with attine ants also inhibit Leishmania donovani. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2019; 13:e0007643. [PMID: 31381572 PMCID: PMC6695191 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007643] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2019] [Revised: 08/15/2019] [Accepted: 07/19/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacterial strains isolated from attine ants showed activity against the insect specialized fungal pathogen Escovopsis and also against the human protozoan parasite Leishmania donovani. The bioassay guided fractionation of extracts from cultures of Streptomyces sp. ICBG292, isolated from the exoskeleton of Cyphomyrmex workers, led to the isolation of Mer-A2026B (1), piericidin-A1 (2) and nigericin (3). Nigericin (3) presented high activity against intracellular amastigotes of L. donovani (IC50 0.129 ± 0.008 μM). Streptomyces puniceus ICBG378, isolated from workers of Acromyrmex rugosus rugosus, produced dinactin (4) with potent anti-L. donovani activity against intracellular amastigotes (IC50 0.018 ± 0.003 μM). Compounds 3 and 4 showed good selectivity indexes, 88.91 and 656.11 respectively, and were more active than positive control, miltefosine. Compounds 1–4 were also active against some Escovopsis strains. Compounds 1 and 2 were also produced by Streptomyces sp. ICBG233, isolated from workers of Atta sexdens, and detected in ants’ extracts by mass spectrometry, suggesting they are produced in the natural environment as defensive compounds involved in the symbiotic interaction. Visceral leishmaniasis, caused by Leishmania infantum and L. donovani, is characterized by high rate mortality worldwide. Current treatments for this disease suffer from toxicity, variable efficacy, requirements for parenteral administration and length of treatment regimens. New chemical entities and development of new drugs are important to overcome the impact of this protozoan disease. Actinobacterial strains, such as Streptomyces, have been a source of most naturally derived antibiotics, as well as anticancer, anthelmintic, and antifungal drugs. These microorganisms also produce small molecules important in symbiotic interactions with insects, such as fungus-growing ants, fungus-growing termites, beetles and wasps against pathogens. Several novel compounds have been reported from these microorganisms with promising biological activities. In this work we show an interesting ecologic approach for drug discovery that also shows promise for the identification of antileishmanial natural products from fungus-growing ant ecosystem. Two compounds isolated from Streptomyces strains showed potent activity against L. donovani, higher than the positive control (miltefosine) with high selectivity indexes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Humberto E. Ortega
- Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil
| | - Leonardo L. G. Ferreira
- Laboratório de Química Medicinal e Computacional, Centro de Pesquisa e Inovação em Biodiversidade e Fármacos, Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, São Carlos-SP, Brazil
| | - Weilan G. P. Melo
- Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil
| | - Ana Ligia L. Oliveira
- Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil
| | - René F. Ramos Alvarenga
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Division, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
| | - Norberto P. Lopes
- Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil
| | - Tim S. Bugni
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Division, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
| | - Adriano D. Andricopulo
- Laboratório de Química Medicinal e Computacional, Centro de Pesquisa e Inovação em Biodiversidade e Fármacos, Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, São Carlos-SP, Brazil
| | - Mônica T. Pupo
- Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil
- * E-mail:
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11
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Takagi Y, Akutsu Y, Doi M, Furukawa K. Utilization of proliferable extracellular amastigotes for transient gene expression, drug sensitivity assay, and CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene knockout in Trypanosoma cruzi. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2019; 13:e0007088. [PMID: 30640901 PMCID: PMC6347291 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2018] [Revised: 01/25/2019] [Accepted: 12/18/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Trypanosoma cruzi has three distinct life cycle stages; epimastigote, trypomastigote, and amastigote. Amastigote is the replication stage in host mammalian cells, hence this stage of parasite has clinical significance in drug development research. Presence of extracellular amastigotes (EA) and their infection capability have been known for some decades. Here, we demonstrate that EA can be utilized as an axenic culture to aid in stage-specific study of T. cruzi. Amastigote-like property of axenic amastigote can be sustained in LIT medium at 37°C at least for 1 week, judging from their morphology, amastigote-specific UTR-regulated GFP expression, and stage-specific expression of selected endogenous genes. Inhibitory effect of benznidazole and nifurtimox on axenic amastigotes was comparable to that on intracellular amastigotes. Exogenous nucleic acids can be transfected into EA via conventional electroporation, and selective marker could be utilized for enrichment of transfectants. We also demonstrate that CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene knockout can be performed in EA. Essentiality of the target gene can be evaluated by the growth capability of the knockout EA, either by continuation of axenic culturing or by host infection and following replication as intracellular amastigotes. By taking advantage of the accessibility and sturdiness of EA, we can potentially expand our experimental freedom in studying amastigote stage of T. cruzi.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuko Takagi
- Biomedical Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
- * E-mail:
| | - Yukie Akutsu
- Biomedical Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Motomichi Doi
- Biomedical Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Koji Furukawa
- Biomedical Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
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12
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Amphotericin B-loaded nanoparticles for local treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis. Drug Deliv Transl Res 2018; 9:76-84. [DOI: 10.1007/s13346-018-00603-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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13
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Gomes-Alves AG, Maia AF, Cruz T, Castro H, Tomás AM. Development of an automated image analysis protocol for quantification of intracellular forms of Leishmania spp. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0201747. [PMID: 30071097 PMCID: PMC6072083 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0201747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2018] [Accepted: 07/20/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Leishmania parasites cause a set of neglected tropical diseases with considerable public health impact, the leishmaniases, which are often fatal if left untreated. Since current treatments for the leishmaniases exhibit high toxicity, low efficacy and prohibitive prices, many laboratories throughout the world are engaged in research for the discovery of novel chemotherapeutics. This entails the necessity of screening large numbers of compounds against the clinically relevant form of the parasite, the obligatory intracellular amastigote, a procedure that in many laboratories is still carried out by manual inspection. To overcome this well-known bottleneck in Leishmania drug development, several studies have recently attempted to automate this process. Here we implemented an image-based high content triage assay for Leishmania which has the added advantages of using primary macrophages instead of macrophage cell lines and of enabling identification of active compounds against parasite species developing both in small individual phagolysosomes (such as L. infantum) and in large communal vacuoles (such as L. amazonensis). The automated image analysis protocol is made available for IN Cell Analyzer systems, and, importantly, also for the open-source CellProfiler software, in this way extending its implementation to any laboratory involved in drug development as well as in other aspects of Leishmania research requiring analysis of in vitro infected macrophages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana G. Gomes-Alves
- i3S – Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- IBMC – Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- CEB – Centro de Engenharia Biológica, Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal
| | - André F. Maia
- i3S – Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- IBMC – Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Tânia Cruz
- i3S – Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- IBMC – Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Helena Castro
- i3S – Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- IBMC – Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Ana M. Tomás
- i3S – Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- IBMC – Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- ICBAS – Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- * E-mail:
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14
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Khattab SN, Khalil HH, Bekhit AA, Abd El-Rahman MM, de la Torre BG, El-Faham A, Albericio F. 1,3,5-Triazino Peptide Derivatives: Synthesis, Characterization, and Preliminary Antileishmanial Activity. ChemMedChem 2018; 13:725-735. [PMID: 29388337 DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.201700770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2017] [Revised: 01/31/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
A library of short di-, tri-, and tetra-peptides with an s-triazine moiety at the N terminus and either an amide or ethyl ester C terminus was prepared in solution and on the solid phase. The two remaining positions of the s-triazine moiety were substituted with methoxy, morpholino, or piperidino groups. All the synthesized peptide derivatives were analyzed by HPLC and fully characterized by IR spectroscopy, 1 H and 13 C NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and mass spectrometry (MALDI TOF/TOF). A preliminary study of the antileishmanial activity of the 1,3,5-triazinyl peptide derivatives revealed that four dipeptide amide derivatives showed higher antipromastigote or antiamastigote activity than the reference standard drug miltefosine with no significance acute toxicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sherine N Khattab
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, P.O. Box 426, Ibrahimia, Alexandria, 21321, Egypt.,Cancer Nanotechnology Research Laboratory(CNRL), Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, Alexandria, 21521, Egypt
| | - Hosam H Khalil
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, P.O. Box 426, Ibrahimia, Alexandria, 21321, Egypt
| | - Adnan A Bekhit
- Cancer Nanotechnology Research Laboratory(CNRL), Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, Alexandria, 21521, Egypt.,Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, Alexandria, 21521, Egypt
| | - Mohamed M Abd El-Rahman
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, P.O. Box 426, Ibrahimia, Alexandria, 21321, Egypt
| | - Beatriz G de la Torre
- KRISP, School of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4001, South Africa
| | - Ayman El-Faham
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, P.O. Box 426, Ibrahimia, Alexandria, 21321, Egypt.,Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Fernando Albericio
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia.,School of Chemistry and Physics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4001, South Africa.,CIBER-BBN, Networking Centre on Bioengineering Biomaterials and Nanomedicine, Barcelona Science Park, Barcelona, 08028, Spain.,Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, 08028, Spain
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15
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Zackay A, Cotton JA, Sanders M, Hailu A, Nasereddin A, Warburg A, Jaffe CL. Genome wide comparison of Ethiopian Leishmania donovani strains reveals differences potentially related to parasite survival. PLoS Genet 2018; 14:e1007133. [PMID: 29315303 PMCID: PMC5777657 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1007133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2016] [Revised: 01/22/2018] [Accepted: 11/28/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Leishmania donovani is the main cause of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in East Africa. Differences between northern Ethiopia/Sudan (NE) and southern Ethiopia (SE) in ecology, vectors, and patient sensitivity to drug treatment have been described, however the relationship between differences in parasite genotype between these two foci and phenotype is unknown. Whole genomic sequencing (WGS) was carried out for 41 L. donovani strains and clones from VL and VL/HIV co-infected patients in NE (n = 28) and SE (n = 13). Chromosome aneuploidy was observed in all parasites examined with each isolate exhibiting a unique karyotype. Differences in chromosome ploidy or karyotype were not correlated with the geographic origin of the parasites. However, correlation between single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and geographic origin was seen for 38/41 isolates, separating the NE and SE parasites into two large groups. SNP restricted to NE and SE groups were associated with genes involved in viability and parasite resistance to drugs. Unique copy number variation (CNV) were also associated with NE and SE parasites, respectively. One striking example is the folate transporter (FT) family genes (LdBPK_100390, LdBPK_100400 and LdBPK_100410) on chromosome 10 that are single copy in all 13 SE isolates, but either double copy or higher in 39/41 NE isolates (copy number 2-4). High copy number (= 4) was also found for one Sudanese strain examined. This was confirmed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction for LdBPK_100400, the L. donovani FT1 transporter homolog. Good correlation (p = 0.005) between FT copy number and resistance to methotrexate (0.5 mg/ml MTX) was also observed with the haploid SE strains examined showing higher viability than the NE strains at this concentration. Our results emphasize the advantages of whole genome analysis to shed light on vital parasite processes in Leishmania.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arie Zackay
- Dept Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, The Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious & Tropical Diseases, IMRIC, Hebrew University–Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - James A. Cotton
- Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, United Kingdom
| | - Mandy Sanders
- Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, United Kingdom
| | - Asrat Hailu
- Dept Microbiology, Immunology & Parasitology, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Abedelmajeed Nasereddin
- Dept Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, The Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious & Tropical Diseases, IMRIC, Hebrew University–Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Alon Warburg
- Dept Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, The Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious & Tropical Diseases, IMRIC, Hebrew University–Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Charles L. Jaffe
- Dept Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, The Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious & Tropical Diseases, IMRIC, Hebrew University–Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel
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16
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Study of antileishmanial activity of 2-aminobenzoyl amino acid hydrazides and their quinazoline derivatives. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 2017; 27:918-921. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2017.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2016] [Revised: 01/03/2017] [Accepted: 01/04/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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17
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Abdu T, Adnan AB, Yimer S. Screening of some pyrazole derivatives as promising antileishmanial agent. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2017. [DOI: 10.5897/ajpp2016.4401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/31/2022]
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18
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Aloui Z, Messaoud C, Haoues M, Neffati N, Bassoumi Jamoussi I, Essafi-Benkhadir K, Boussaid M, Guizani I, Karoui H. Asteraceae Artemisia campestris and Artemisia herba-alba Essential Oils Trigger Apoptosis and Cell Cycle Arrest in Leishmania infantum Promastigotes. EVIDENCE-BASED COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE : ECAM 2016; 2016:9147096. [PMID: 27807464 PMCID: PMC5078739 DOI: 10.1155/2016/9147096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2016] [Revised: 06/06/2016] [Accepted: 08/10/2016] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
We report the chemical composition and anti-Leishmania and antioxidant activity of Artemisia campestris L. and Artemisia herba-alba Asso. essential oils (EOs). Our results showed that these extracts exhibit different antioxidant activities according to the used assay. The radical scavenging effects determined by DPPH assay were of IC50 = 3.3 mg/mL and IC50 = 9.1 mg/mL for Artemisia campestris and Artemisia herba-alba essential oils, respectively. However, antioxidant effects of both essential oils, determined by ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay, were in the same range (2.3 and 2.97 mg eq EDTA/g EO, resp.), while the Artemisia herba-alba essential oil showed highest chelating activity of Fe2+ ions (27.48 mM Fe2+). Interestingly, we showed that both EOs possess dose-dependent activity against Leishmania infantum promastigotes with IC50 values of 68 μg/mL and 44 μg/mL for A. herba-alba and A. campestris, respectively. We reported, for the first time, that antileishmanial activity of both EOs was mediated by cell apoptosis induction and cell cycle arrest at the sub-G0/G1 phase. All our results showed that EOs from A. herba-alba and A. campestris plants are promising candidates as anti-Leishmania medicinal products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zohra Aloui
- Laboratoire d'Epidémiologie Moléculaire et Pathologie Expérimentale Appliquée aux Maladies Infectieuses LR11IPT04, Université de Tunis El Manar, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, 13 Place Pasteur, BP 74, 1002 Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Chokri Messaoud
- Unité Ressources Phytogénétiques et Biotechnologie Végétale, INSAT, BP 676, 1080 Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Meriam Haoues
- Laboratoire de Recherche sur la Transmission, le Contrôle et l'Immunobiologie des Infections LR11IPT02, Université de Tunis El Manar, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, 13 Place Pasteur, BP 74, 1002 Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Noura Neffati
- Laboratoire d'Epidémiologie Moléculaire et Pathologie Expérimentale Appliquée aux Maladies Infectieuses LR11IPT04, Université de Tunis El Manar, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, 13 Place Pasteur, BP 74, 1002 Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Imen Bassoumi Jamoussi
- Laboratoire d'Epidémiologie Moléculaire et Pathologie Expérimentale Appliquée aux Maladies Infectieuses LR11IPT04, Université de Tunis El Manar, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, 13 Place Pasteur, BP 74, 1002 Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Khadija Essafi-Benkhadir
- Laboratoire d'Epidémiologie Moléculaire et Pathologie Expérimentale Appliquée aux Maladies Infectieuses LR11IPT04, Université de Tunis El Manar, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, 13 Place Pasteur, BP 74, 1002 Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Mohamed Boussaid
- Unité Ressources Phytogénétiques et Biotechnologie Végétale, INSAT, BP 676, 1080 Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Ikram Guizani
- Laboratoire d'Epidémiologie Moléculaire et Pathologie Expérimentale Appliquée aux Maladies Infectieuses LR11IPT04, Université de Tunis El Manar, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, 13 Place Pasteur, BP 74, 1002 Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Habib Karoui
- Laboratoire d'Epidémiologie Moléculaire et Pathologie Expérimentale Appliquée aux Maladies Infectieuses LR11IPT04, Université de Tunis El Manar, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, 13 Place Pasteur, BP 74, 1002 Tunis, Tunisia
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19
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From Drug Screening to Target Deconvolution: a Target-Based Drug Discovery Pipeline Using Leishmania Casein Kinase 1 Isoform 2 To Identify Compounds with Antileishmanial Activity. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2016; 60:2822-33. [PMID: 26902771 DOI: 10.1128/aac.00021-16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2016] [Accepted: 02/18/2016] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Existing therapies for leishmaniases present significant limitations, such as toxic side effects, and are rendered inefficient by parasite resistance. It is of utmost importance to develop novel drugs targeting Leishmania that take these two limitations into consideration. We thus chose a target-based approach using an exoprotein kinase, Leishmania casein kinase 1.2 (LmCK1.2) that was recently shown to be essential for intracellular parasite survival and infectivity. We developed a four-step pipeline to identify novel selective antileishmanial compounds. In step 1, we screened 5,018 compounds from kinase-biased libraries with Leishmania and mammalian CK1 in order to identify hit compounds and assess their specificity. For step 2, we selected 88 compounds among those with the lowest 50% inhibitory concentration to test their biological activity on host-free parasites using a resazurin reduction assay and on intramacrophagic amastigotes using a high content phenotypic assay. Only 75 compounds showed antileishmanial activity and were retained for step 3 to evaluate their toxicity against mouse macrophages and human cell lines. The four compounds that displayed a selectivity index above 10 were then assessed for their affinity to LmCK1.2 using a target deconvolution strategy in step 4. Finally, we retained two compounds, PP2 and compound 42, for which LmCK1.2 seems to be the primary target. Using this four-step pipeline, we identify from several thousand molecules, two lead compounds with a selective antileishmanial activity.
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20
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Pirttimaa M, Nasereddin A, Kopelyanskiy D, Kaiser M, Yli-Kauhaluoma J, Oksman-Caldentey KM, Brun R, Jaffe CL, Moreira VM, Alakurtti S. Abietane-Type Diterpenoid Amides with Highly Potent and Selective Activity against Leishmania donovani and Trypanosoma cruzi. JOURNAL OF NATURAL PRODUCTS 2016; 79:362-368. [PMID: 26849852 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.5b00990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Dehydroabietylamine (1) was used as a starting material to synthesize a small library of dehydroabietyl amides by simple and facile methods, and their activities against two disease-causing trypanosomatids, namely, Leishmania donovani and Trypanosoma cruzi, were assayed. The most potent compound, 10, an amide of dehydroabietylamine and acrylic acid, was found to be highly potent against these parasites, displaying an IC50 value of 0.37 μM against L. donovani axenic amastigotes and an outstanding selectivity index of 63. Moreover, compound 10 fully inhibited the growth of intracellular amastigotes in Leishmania donovani-infected human macrophages with a low IC50 value of 0.06 μM. This compound was also highly effective against T. cruzi amastigotes residing in L6 cells with an IC50 value of 0.6 μM and high selectivity index of 58, being 3.5 times more potent than the reference compound benznidazole. The potent activity of this compound and its relatively low cytotoxicity make it attractive for further development in pursuit of better drugs for patients suffering from leishmaniasis and Chagas disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minni Pirttimaa
- VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, VTT , P.O. Box 1000, FI-02044 VTT Espoo, Finland
| | - Abedelmajeed Nasereddin
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, IMRIC, P.O. Box 12272, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School , 9112102 Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Dmitry Kopelyanskiy
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, IMRIC, P.O. Box 12272, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School , 9112102 Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Marcel Kaiser
- Department of Medical Parasitology and Infection Biology, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute , Socinstrasse 57, 4051 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Jari Yli-Kauhaluoma
- Faculty of Pharmacy, Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology, University of Helsinki , Viikinkaari 5 E (P.O. Box 56), FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland
| | | | - Reto Brun
- Department of Medical Parasitology and Infection Biology, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute , Socinstrasse 57, 4051 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Charles L Jaffe
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, IMRIC, P.O. Box 12272, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School , 9112102 Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Vânia M Moreira
- Faculty of Pharmacy, Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology, University of Helsinki , Viikinkaari 5 E (P.O. Box 56), FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Sami Alakurtti
- VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, VTT , P.O. Box 1000, FI-02044 VTT Espoo, Finland
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21
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Allopurinol Resistance in Leishmania infantum from Dogs with Disease Relapse. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2016; 10:e0004341. [PMID: 26735519 PMCID: PMC4711794 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2015] [Accepted: 12/08/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Visceral leishmaniasis caused by the protozoan Leishmania infantum is a zoonotic, life threatening parasitic disease. Domestic dogs are the main peridomestic reservoir, and allopurinol is the most frequently used drug for the control of infection, alone or in combination with other drugs. Resistance of Leishmania strains from dogs to allopurinol has not been described before in clinical studies. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Following our observation of clinical disease relapse in dogs under allopurinol treatment, we tested susceptibility to allopurinol of L. infantum isolated from groups of dogs pre-treatment, treated in remission, and with disease relapse during treatment. Promastigote isolates obtained from four treated relapsed dogs (TR group) showed an average half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 996 μg/mL. A significantly lower IC50 (P = 0.01) was found for isolates from ten dogs before treatment (NT group, 200 μg/mL), as well as for five isolates obtained from treated dogs in remission (TA group, 268 μg/mL). Axenic amastigotes produced from isolates of the TR group also showed significantly higher (P = 0.002) IC50 compared to the NT group (1678 and 671 μg/mL, respectively). The lower sensitivity of intracellular amastigotes from the TR group relative to those from the NT group (P = 0.002) was confirmed using an infected macrophage model (6.3% and 20% growth inhibition, respectively at 300 μg/mL allopurinol). CONCLUSIONS This is the first study to demonstrate allopurinol resistance in L. infantum and to associate it with disease relapse in the canine host. These findings are of concern as allopurinol is the main drug used for long term control of the disease in dogs, and resistant L. infantum strains may enhance uncontrolled transmission to humans and to other dogs.
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22
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Vahermo M, Krogerus S, Nasereddin A, Kaiser M, Brun R, Jaffe CL, Yli-Kauhaluoma J, Moreira VM. Antiprotozoal activity of dehydroabietic acid derivatives against Leishmania donovani and Trypanosoma cruzi. MEDCHEMCOMM 2016. [DOI: 10.1039/c5md00498e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Dehydroabietic acid derivatives have potent antiprotozoal activity and selectivity against L. donovani and T. cruzi.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mikko Vahermo
- Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology
- Faculty of Pharmacy
- Viikinkaari 5 E
- Finland
| | - Sara Krogerus
- Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology
- Faculty of Pharmacy
- Viikinkaari 5 E
- Finland
| | - Abdelmajeed Nasereddin
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
- IMRIC
- Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School
- 9112102 Jerusalem
- Israel
| | - Marcel Kaiser
- Department of Medical Parasitology and Infection Biology
- Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute
- 4051 Basel
- Switzerland
| | - Reto Brun
- Department of Medical Parasitology and Infection Biology
- Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute
- 4051 Basel
- Switzerland
| | - Charles L. Jaffe
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
- IMRIC
- Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School
- 9112102 Jerusalem
- Israel
| | - Jari Yli-Kauhaluoma
- Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology
- Faculty of Pharmacy
- Viikinkaari 5 E
- Finland
| | - Vânia M. Moreira
- Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology
- Faculty of Pharmacy
- Viikinkaari 5 E
- Finland
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23
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Nühs A, De Rycker M, Manthri S, Comer E, Scherer CA, Schreiber SL, Ioset JR, Gray DW. Development and Validation of a Novel Leishmania donovani Screening Cascade for High-Throughput Screening Using a Novel Axenic Assay with High Predictivity of Leishmanicidal Intracellular Activity. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2015; 9:e0004094. [PMID: 26407168 PMCID: PMC4583543 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2015] [Accepted: 08/30/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Visceral leishmaniasis is an important parasitic disease of the developing world with a limited arsenal of drugs available for treatment. The existing drugs have significant deficiencies so there is an urgent need for new and improved drugs. In the human host, Leishmania are obligate intracellular parasites which poses particular challenges in terms of drug discovery. To achieve sufficient throughput and robustness, free-living parasites are often used in primary screening assays as a surrogate for the more complex intracellular assays. We and others have found that such axenic assays have a high false positive rate relative to the intracellular assays, and that this limits their usefulness as a primary platform for screening of large compound collections. While many different reasons could lie behind the poor translation from axenic parasite to intracellular parasite, we show here that a key factor is the identification of growth slowing and cytostatic compounds by axenic assays in addition to the more desirable cytocidal compounds. We present a screening cascade based on a novel cytocidal-only axenic amastigote assay, developed by increasing starting density of cells and lowering the limit of detection, and show that it has a much improved translation to the intracellular assay. We propose that this assay is an improved primary platform in a new Leishmania screening cascade designed for the screening of large compound collections. This cascade was employed to screen a diversity-oriented-synthesis library, and yielded two novel antileishmanial chemotypes. The approach we have taken may have broad relevance to anti-infective and anti-parasitic drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Nühs
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom
| | - Manu De Rycker
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom
| | - Sujatha Manthri
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom
| | - Eamon Comer
- Broad Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | | | | | | | - David W. Gray
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
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24
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Keurulainen L, Siiskonen A, Nasereddin A, Kopelyanskiy D, Sacerdoti-Sierra N, Leino TO, Tammela P, Yli-Kauhaluoma J, Jaffe CL, Kiuru P. Synthesis and biological evaluation of 2-arylbenzimidazoles targeting Leishmania donovani. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 2015; 25:1933-7. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2015.03.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2014] [Revised: 03/10/2015] [Accepted: 03/11/2015] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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25
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Bekhit AA, Hassan AM, Abd El Razik HA, El-Miligy MM, El-Agroudy EJ, Bekhit AEDA. New heterocyclic hybrids of pyrazole and its bioisosteres: Design, synthesis and biological evaluation as dual acting antimalarial-antileishmanial agents. Eur J Med Chem 2015; 94:30-44. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2015.02.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2014] [Revised: 11/01/2014] [Accepted: 02/19/2015] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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26
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Keurulainen L, Heiskari M, Nenonen S, Nasereddin A, Kopelyanskiy D, Leino TO, Yli-Kauhaluoma J, Jaffe CL, Kiuru P. Synthesis of carboxyimidamide-substituted benzo[c][1,2,5]oxadiazoles and their analogs, and evaluation of biological activity against Leishmania donovani. MEDCHEMCOMM 2015. [DOI: 10.1039/c5md00119f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Antileishmanial evaluation of 25 derivatives revealed promising inhibition activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leena Keurulainen
- Faculty of Pharmacy
- Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology
- University of Helsinki
- FI-00014 Helsinki
- Finland
| | - Mikko Heiskari
- Faculty of Pharmacy
- Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology
- University of Helsinki
- FI-00014 Helsinki
- Finland
| | - Satu Nenonen
- Faculty of Pharmacy
- Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology
- University of Helsinki
- FI-00014 Helsinki
- Finland
| | - Abedelmajeed Nasereddin
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
- IMRIC
- Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School
- Jerusalem 9112102
- Israel
| | - Dmitry Kopelyanskiy
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
- IMRIC
- Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School
- Jerusalem 9112102
- Israel
| | - Teppo O. Leino
- Faculty of Pharmacy
- Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology
- University of Helsinki
- FI-00014 Helsinki
- Finland
| | - Jari Yli-Kauhaluoma
- Faculty of Pharmacy
- Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology
- University of Helsinki
- FI-00014 Helsinki
- Finland
| | - Charles L. Jaffe
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
- IMRIC
- Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School
- Jerusalem 9112102
- Israel
| | - Paula Kiuru
- Faculty of Pharmacy
- Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology
- University of Helsinki
- FI-00014 Helsinki
- Finland
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Forestier CL, Späth GF, Prina E, Dasari S. Simultaneous multi-parametric analysis of Leishmania and of its hosting mammal cells: A high content imaging-based method enabling sound drug discovery process. Microb Pathog 2014; 88:103-8. [PMID: 25448129 DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2014.10.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2014] [Revised: 08/18/2014] [Accepted: 10/21/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease for which only limited therapeutic options are available. The disease is ranked among the six most important tropical infectious diseases and represents the second-largest parasitic killer in the world. The development of new therapies has been hampered by the lack of technologies and methodologies that can be integrated into the complex physiological environment of a cell or organism and adapted to suitable in vitro and in vivo Leishmania models. Recent advances in microscopy imaging offer the possibility to assess the efficacy of potential drug candidates against Leishmania within host cells. This technology allows the simultaneous visualization of relevant phenotypes in parasite and host cells and the quantification of a variety of cellular events. In this review, we present the powerful cellular imaging methodologies that have been developed for drug screening in a biologically relevant context, addressing both high-content and high-throughput needs. Furthermore, we discuss the potential of intra-vital microscopy imaging in the context of the anti-leishmanial drug discovery process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire-Lise Forestier
- INSERM U1095, URMITE-UMR CNRS 7278, Infectiopole Sud, University of Aix-Marseille, Marseille, France.
| | - Gerald Frank Späth
- Institut Pasteur and CNRS URA2581, Unité de Parasitologie moléculaire et Signalisation, Paris, France
| | - Eric Prina
- Institut Pasteur and CNRS URA2581, Unité de Parasitologie moléculaire et Signalisation, Paris, France
| | - Sreekanth Dasari
- INSERM U1095, URMITE-UMR CNRS 7278, Infectiopole Sud, University of Aix-Marseille, Marseille, France
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28
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Birhan YS, Bekhit AA, Hymete A. Synthesis and antileishmanial evaluation of some 2,3-disubstituted-4(3H)-quinazolinone derivatives. Org Med Chem Lett 2014; 4:10. [PMID: 26548988 PMCID: PMC4970432 DOI: 10.1186/s13588-014-0010-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2014] [Accepted: 09/03/2014] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical parasitic diseases affecting millions of people around the globe. Quinazolines are a group of compounds with diverse pharmacological activities. Owing to their promising antileishmanial activities, some 3-aryl-2-(substitutedstyryl)-4(3H)-quinazolinones were synthesized in good yields (65.2% to 86.4%). Results The target compounds were synthesized by using cyclization, condensation, and hydrolysis reactions. The structures of the synthesized compounds were determined using elemental microanalysis, infrared (IR), and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR). The in vitro antileishmanial activities of the synthesized compounds were evaluated using Leishmania donovani strain. All the synthesized compounds displayed appreciable antileishmanial activities (IC50 values, 0.0128 to 3.1085 μg/ml) as compared to the standard drug miltefosine (IC50 = 3.1911 μg/ml). (E)-2-(4-chlorostyryl)-3-p-tolyl-4(3H)-quinazolinone (7) is the compound with the most promising antileishmanial activities (IC50 = 0.0128 μg/ml) which is approximately 4 and 250 times more active than the standard drugs amphotericin B deoxycholate (IC50 = 0.0460 μg/ml) and miltefosine (IC50 = 3.1911 μg/ml), respectively. Conclusions The results obtained from this investigation indicate that the synthesized and biologically evaluated quinazoline compounds showed promising antileishmanial activities and are good scaffolds for the synthesis of different antileishmanial agents. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13588-014-0010-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yihenew Simegniew Birhan
- Department of Chemistry, Natural and Computational Science College, Debre Markos University, Debre Markos, Ethiopia.
| | - Adnan Ahmed Bekhit
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Alexandria University, Alexandria, 21215, Egypt.
| | - Ariaya Hymete
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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Dinesh N, Kaur PK, Swamy KK, Singh S. Mianserin, an antidepressant kills Leishmania donovani by depleting ergosterol levels. Exp Parasitol 2014; 144:84-90. [PMID: 24950381 DOI: 10.1016/j.exppara.2014.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2014] [Revised: 05/30/2014] [Accepted: 06/02/2014] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
In the present study, we have investigated the antileishmanial potential of mianserin, an antidepressant. Mianserin was found to inhibit both the promastigote and amastigote forms of the parasite in a dose dependant manner. The IC50 values for promastigotes and amastigotes were 21 μM and 46 μM respectively. Interestingly, mianserin failed to inhibit THP-1 differentiated macrophages up to 100 μM concentration thus, exhibiting parasite selectivity. When mianserin was incubated with recombinant Leishmania donovani 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGR) enzyme, it exhibited an IC50 value of 19.8 μM. Inhibition kinetics revealed competitive mode of enzyme inhibition as the Km increased with no change in Vmax. Further structural investigation of enzyme-inhibitor interaction revealed quenching of HMGR tryptophan intrinsic fluorescence with a K(sv) value of 3.025±0.37 M(-1) and an apparent binding constant of 0.0954 mM. We further estimated ergosterol levels which is a major component of Leishmania cell membrane. It is synthesized by HMGR enzyme, the first rate limiting enzyme of the sterol biosynthetic pathway. Analysis of ergosterol levels by HPLC revealed ∼2.5-fold depletion in mianserin treated promastigotes with respect to untreated parasites. This data was further validated by exogenous supplementation of mianserin treated cells with ergosterol and cholesterol. Reversal of growth inhibition was observed only upon ergosterol addition though it was refractory to cholesterol supplementation. Overall, our results demonstrate the possibility of repositioning of an antidepressant for the treatment of Visceral Leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neeradi Dinesh
- Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, SAS Nagar, Mohali 160062, Punjab, India
| | - Preet Kamal Kaur
- Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, SAS Nagar, Mohali 160062, Punjab, India
| | - Kayala Kambagiri Swamy
- Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, SAS Nagar, Mohali 160062, Punjab, India
| | - Sushma Singh
- Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, SAS Nagar, Mohali 160062, Punjab, India.
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Villalobos-Rocha JC, Sánchez-Torres L, Nogueda-Torres B, Segura-Cabrera A, García-Pérez CA, Bocanegra-García V, Palos I, Monge A, Rivera G. Anti-Trypanosoma cruzi and anti-leishmanial activity by quinoxaline-7-carboxylate 1,4-di-N-oxide derivatives. Parasitol Res 2014; 113:2027-35. [PMID: 24691716 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-014-3850-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2013] [Accepted: 03/04/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
In this work, a novel series of ethyl and methyl quinoxaline-7-carboxylate 1,4-di-N-oxide derivatives were evaluated in vitro on Trypanosoma cruzi trypomastigotes and Leishmania mexicana promastigotes, and cytotoxicity activity in murine macrophages was tested. In silico molecular docking simulations of trypanothione reductase were also done. Three compounds of 33 quinoxaline-7-carboxylate 1,4-di-N-oxide derivatives showed better anti-T. cruzi activity than nifurtimox and beznidazole; two compounds had better anti-leishmanial activity that amphotericin-B, and two compounds showed better activity against both parasites than reference drugs. Compounds M2, M7, M8 and E5, showed low cytotoxic activity on the host cell. The in silico studies suggest that compound M2 is a potential trypanothione reductase inhibitor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Carlos Villalobos-Rocha
- Departamento de Parasitología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Carpio y Plan de Ayala, s/n, 11340, D.F., Mexico
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31
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Haavikko R, Nasereddin A, Sacerdoti-Sierra N, Kopelyanskiy D, Alakurtti S, Tikka M, Jaffe CL, Yli-Kauhaluoma J. Heterocycle-fused lupane triterpenoids inhibit Leishmania donovani amastigotes. MEDCHEMCOMM 2014. [DOI: 10.1039/c3md00282a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
The synthesis of heterocyclic betulin derivatives and their activity against Leishmania donovani are reported.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raisa Haavikko
- Faculty of Pharmacy
- Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
- University of Helsinki
- Helsinki, Finland
| | - Abedelmajeed Nasereddin
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
- IMRIC
- Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School
- Jerusalem 91120, Israel
| | - Nina Sacerdoti-Sierra
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
- IMRIC
- Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School
- Jerusalem 91120, Israel
| | - Dmitry Kopelyanskiy
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
- IMRIC
- Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School
- Jerusalem 91120, Israel
| | | | - Mari Tikka
- Faculty of Pharmacy
- Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
- University of Helsinki
- Helsinki, Finland
| | - Charles L. Jaffe
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
- IMRIC
- Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School
- Jerusalem 91120, Israel
| | - Jari Yli-Kauhaluoma
- Faculty of Pharmacy
- Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
- University of Helsinki
- Helsinki, Finland
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Pharmacological assessment defines Leishmania donovani casein kinase 1 as a drug target and reveals important functions in parasite viability and intracellular infection. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2013; 58:1501-15. [PMID: 24366737 DOI: 10.1128/aac.02022-13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Protein kinase inhibitors have emerged as new drugs in various therapeutic areas, including leishmaniasis, an important parasitic disease. Members of the Leishmania casein kinase 1 (CK1) family represent promising therapeutic targets. Leishmania casein kinase 1 isoform 2 (CK1.2) has been identified as an exokinase capable of phosphorylating host proteins, thus exerting a potential immune-suppressive action on infected host cells. Moreover, its inhibition reduces promastigote growth. Despite these important properties, its requirement for intracellular infection and its chemical validation as a therapeutic target in the disease-relevant amastigote stage remain to be established. In this study, we used a multidisciplinary approach combining bioinformatics, biochemical, and pharmacological analyses with a macrophage infection assay to characterize and define Leishmania CK1.2 as a valid drug target. We show that recombinant and transgenic Leishmania CK1.2 (i) can phosphorylate CK1-specific substrates, (ii) is sensitive to temperature, and (iii) is susceptible to CK1-specific inhibitors. CK1.2 is constitutively expressed at both the promastigote insect stage and the vertebrate amastigote stage. We further demonstrated that reduction of CK1 activity by specific inhibitors, such as D4476, blocks promastigote growth, strongly compromises axenic amastigote viability, and decreases the number of intracellular Leishmania donovani and L. amazonensis amastigotes in infected macrophages. These results underline the potential role of CK1 kinases in intracellular survival. The identification of differences in structure and inhibition profiles compared to those of mammalian CK1 kinases opens new opportunities for Leishmania CK1.2 antileishmanial drug development. Our report provides the first chemical validation of Leishmania CK1 protein kinases, required for amastigote intracellular survival, as therapeutic targets.
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Dan-Goor M, Nasereddin A, Jaber H, Jaffe CL. Identification of a secreted casein kinase 1 in Leishmania donovani: effect of protein over expression on parasite growth and virulence. PLoS One 2013; 8:e79287. [PMID: 24260187 PMCID: PMC3829951 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0079287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2013] [Accepted: 09/25/2013] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Casein kinase 1 (CK1) plays an important role in eukaryotic signaling pathways, and their substrates include key regulatory proteins involved in cell differentiation, proliferation and chromosome segregation. The Leishmania genome encodes six potential CK1 isoforms, of which five have orthologs in other trypanosomatidae. Leishmania donovani CK1 isoform 4 (Ldck1.4, orthologous to LmjF27.1780) is unique to Leishmania and contains a putative secretion signal peptide. The full-length gene and three shorter constructs were cloned and expressed in E. coli as His-tag proteins. Only the full-length 62.3 kDa protein showed protein kinase activity indicating that the N-terminal and C-terminal domains are essential for protein activity. LdCK1.4-FLAG was stably over expressed in L. donovani, and shown by immunofluorescence to be localized primarily in the cytosol. Western blotting using anti-FLAG and anti-CK1.4 antibodies showed that this CK1 isoform is expressed and secreted by promastigotes. Over expression of LdCK1.4 had a significant effect on promastigote growth in culture with these parasites growing to higher cell densities than the control parasites (wild-type or Ld:luciferase, P<0.001). Analysis by flow cytometry showed a higher percentage, ∼4-5-fold, of virulent metacyclic promastigotes on day 3 among the LdCK1.4 parasites. Finally, parasites over expressing LdCK1.4 gave significantly higher infections of mouse peritoneal macrophages compared to wild-type parasites, 28.6% versus 6.3%, respectively (p = 0.0005). These results suggest that LdCK1.4 plays an important role in parasite survival and virulence. Further studies are needed to validate CK1.4 as a therapeutic target in Leishmania.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary Dan-Goor
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, The Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, National Center for Leishmaniasis, IMRIC, Hebrew University–Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Abedelmajeed Nasereddin
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, The Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, National Center for Leishmaniasis, IMRIC, Hebrew University–Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Hanan Jaber
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, The Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, National Center for Leishmaniasis, IMRIC, Hebrew University–Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Charles L. Jaffe
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, The Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, National Center for Leishmaniasis, IMRIC, Hebrew University–Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel
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34
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Identification of the molecular attributes required for aminoglycoside activity against Leishmania. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2013; 110:13333-8. [PMID: 23898171 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1307365110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease caused by protozoa of the genus Leishmania, affects millions of people worldwide. Aminoglycosides are mostly known as highly potent, broad-spectrum antibiotics that exert their antibacterial activity by selectively targeting the decoding A site of the bacterial ribosome, leading to aberrant protein synthesis. Recently, some aminoglycosides have been clinically approved and are currently used worldwide for the treatment of leishmaniasis; however the molecular details by which aminoglycosides induce their deleterious effect on Leishmaina is still rather obscure. Based on high conservation of the decoding site among all kingdoms, it is assumed that the putative binding site of these agents in Leishmania is the ribosomal A site. However, although recent X-ray crystal structures of the bacterial ribosome in complex with aminoglycosides shed light on the mechanism of aminoglycosides action as antibiotics, no such data are presently available regarding their binding site in Leishmania. We present crystal structures of two different aminoglycoside molecules bound to a model of the Leishmania ribosomal A site: Geneticin (G418), a potent aminoglycoside for the treatment of leishmaniasis at a 2.65-Å resolution, and Apramycin, shown to be a strong binder to the leishmanial ribosome lacking an antileishmanial activity at 1.4-Å resolution. The structural data, coupled with in vitro inhibition measurements on two strains of Leishmania, provide insight as to the source of the difference in inhibitory activity of different Aminoglycosides. The combined structural and physiological data sets the ground for rational design of new, and more specific, aminoglycoside derivatives as potential therapeutic agents against leishmaniasis.
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35
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Corral MJ, González E, Cuquerella M, Alunda JM. Improvement of 96-well microplate assay for estimation of cell growth and inhibition of Leishmania with Alamar Blue. J Microbiol Methods 2013; 94:111-116. [PMID: 23707202 DOI: 10.1016/j.mimet.2013.05.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2013] [Revised: 05/14/2013] [Accepted: 05/14/2013] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The value of resazurin-based Alamar Blue redox indicator to determine multiplication of Leishmania promastigotes in 96-well microtiter plates was examined. In addition, assay was validated with amphotericin B (AmB) and allicin. The method was tested on L.donovani and L.infantum promastigotes under different culture conditions (variable air-phase, presence of phenol red, initial cell density, incubation time, use of Hepes buffer). Results showed that the gas-phase of promastigote cultures was critical. The method yielded consistent results with initial plating cell densities of 2.5 × 10⁵ promastigotes/well, up to 72 h incubation and 5% CO₂ atmosphere or reduced air availability (sealed plastic bags, film-sealed microplates). Detection of low numbers of promastigotes and earlier results could be obtained using fluorimetry instead of spectrophotometry. The addition of 20 mM Hepes improved the results. Fluorescence intensity correlated to promastigotes number in both Leishmania spp. Inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) values for AmB and allicin using cell counting and fluorimetry were comparable. Under these conditions this one-step, low-cost redox indicator can be used in drug sensitivity assays and studies of differential proliferation rates of Leishmania isolates or strains in a 96-well format.
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Affiliation(s)
- María Jesús Corral
- Department of Animal Health (ICPVet Group), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Elena González
- Department of Animal Health (ICPVet Group), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Montserrat Cuquerella
- Department of Animal Health (ICPVet Group), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - José María Alunda
- Department of Animal Health (ICPVet Group), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
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36
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Comparison of a high-throughput high-content intracellular Leishmania donovani assay with an axenic amastigote assay. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2013; 57:2913-22. [PMID: 23571538 DOI: 10.1128/aac.02398-12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 113] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Visceral leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease with significant health impact. The current treatments are poor, and there is an urgent need to develop new drugs. Primary screening assays used for drug discovery campaigns have typically used free-living forms of the Leishmania parasite to allow for high-throughput screening. Such screens do not necessarily reflect the physiological situation, as the disease-causing stage of the parasite resides inside human host cells. Assessing the drug sensitivity of intracellular parasites on scale has recently become feasible with the advent of high-content screening methods. We describe here a 384-well microscopy-based intramacrophage Leishmania donovani assay and compare it to an axenic amastigote system. A panel of eight reference compounds was tested in both systems, as well as a human counterscreen cell line, and our findings show that for most clinically used compounds both axenic and intramacrophage assays report very similar results. A set of 15,659 diverse compounds was also screened using both systems. This resulted in the identification of seven new antileishmanial compounds and revealed a high false-positive rate for the axenic assay. We conclude that the intramacrophage assay is more suited as a primary hit-discovery platform than the current form of axenic assay, and we discuss how modifications to the axenic assay may render it more suitable for hit-discovery.
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37
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Bowling T, Mercer L, Don R, Jacobs R, Nare B. Application of a resazurin-based high-throughput screening assay for the identification and progression of new treatments for human African trypanosomiasis. Int J Parasitol Drugs Drug Resist 2012; 2:262-70. [PMID: 24533287 PMCID: PMC3862424 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpddr.2012.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) is caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei, and the disease is fatal if untreated. There is an urgent need to develop new, safe and effective treatments for HAT because current drugs have extremely poor safety profiles and are difficult to administer. Here we report the development and application of a cell-based resazurin reduction assay for high throughput screening and identification of new inhibitors of T. b. brucei as starting points for the development of new treatments for human HAT. Active compounds identified in primary screening of ∼48,000 compounds representing ∼25 chemical classes were titrated to obtain IC50 values. Cytotoxicity against a mammalian cell line was determined to provide indications of parasite versus host cell selectivity. Examples from hit series that showed selectivity and evidence of preliminary SAR were re-synthesized to confirm trypanocidal activity prior to initiating hit-to-lead expansion efforts. Additional assays such as serum shift, time to kill and reversibility of compound effect were developed and applied to provide further criteria for advancing compounds through the hit-to-lead phase of the project. From this initial effort, six distinct chemical series were selected and hit-to-lead chemistry was initiated to synthesize several key analogs for evaluation of trypanocidal activity in the resazurin-reduction assay for parasite viability. From the hit-to-lead efforts, a series was identified that demonstrated efficacy in a mouse model for T. b. brucei infection and was progressed into the lead optimization stage. In summary, the present study demonstrates the successful and effective use of resazurin-reduction based assays as tools for primary and secondary screening of a new compound series to identify leads for the treatment of HAT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tana Bowling
- SCYNEXIS Inc., P.O. Box 12878, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2878, United States
| | - Luke Mercer
- SCYNEXIS Inc., P.O. Box 12878, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2878, United States
| | - Robert Don
- Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Robert Jacobs
- SCYNEXIS Inc., P.O. Box 12878, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2878, United States
| | - Bakela Nare
- SCYNEXIS Inc., P.O. Box 12878, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2878, United States
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Siqueira-Neto JL, Moon S, Jang J, Yang G, Lee C, Moon HK, Chatelain E, Genovesio A, Cechetto J, Freitas-Junior LH. An image-based high-content screening assay for compounds targeting intracellular Leishmania donovani amastigotes in human macrophages. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2012; 6:e1671. [PMID: 22720099 PMCID: PMC3373640 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0001671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2011] [Accepted: 04/19/2012] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a tropical disease threatening 350 million people from endemic regions. The available drugs for treatment are inadequate, with limitations such as serious side effects, parasite resistance or high cost. Driven by this need for new drugs, we developed a high-content, high-throughput image-based screening assay targeting the intracellular amastigote stage of different species of Leishmania in infected human macrophages. The in vitro infection protocol was adapted to a 384-well-plate format, enabling acquisition of a large amount of readouts by automated confocal microscopy. The reading method was based on DNA staining and required the development of a customized algorithm to analyze the images, which enabled the use of non-modified parasites. The automated analysis generated parameters used to quantify compound activity, including infection ratio as well as the number of intracellular amastigote parasites and yielded cytotoxicity information based on the number of host cells. Comparison of this assay with one that used the promastigote form to screen 26,500 compounds showed that 50% of the hits selected against the intracellular amastigote were not selected in the promastigote screening. These data corroborate the idea that the intracellular amastigote form of the parasite is the most appropriate to be used in primary screening assay for Leishmania.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jair L. Siqueira-Neto
- Center for Neglected Diseases Drug Discovery (CND3), Institut Pasteur Korea, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
| | - Seunghyun Moon
- Image Mining Group, Institut Pasteur Korea, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
| | - Jiyeon Jang
- Screening Technology & Pharmacology Group, Institut Pasteur Korea, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
| | - Gyongseon Yang
- Center for Neglected Diseases Drug Discovery (CND3), Institut Pasteur Korea, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
| | - Changbok Lee
- Image Mining Group, Institut Pasteur Korea, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
| | - Hong Kee Moon
- Image Mining Group, Institut Pasteur Korea, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
| | - Eric Chatelain
- Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Auguste Genovesio
- Image Mining Group, Institut Pasteur Korea, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
| | - Jonathan Cechetto
- Screening Technology & Pharmacology Group, Institut Pasteur Korea, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
| | - Lucio H. Freitas-Junior
- Center for Neglected Diseases Drug Discovery (CND3), Institut Pasteur Korea, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
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Chavali AK, Blazier AS, Tlaxca JL, Jensen PA, Pearson RD, Papin JA. Metabolic network analysis predicts efficacy of FDA-approved drugs targeting the causative agent of a neglected tropical disease. BMC SYSTEMS BIOLOGY 2012; 6:27. [PMID: 22540944 PMCID: PMC3388006 DOI: 10.1186/1752-0509-6-27] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2012] [Accepted: 04/27/2012] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
Background Systems biology holds promise as a new approach to drug target identification and drug discovery against neglected tropical diseases. Genome-scale metabolic reconstructions, assembled from annotated genomes and a vast array of bioinformatics/biochemical resources, provide a framework for the interrogation of human pathogens and serve as a platform for generation of future experimental hypotheses. In this article, with the application of selection criteria for both Leishmania major targets (e.g. in silico gene lethality) and drugs (e.g. toxicity), a method (MetDP) to rationally focus on a subset of low-toxic Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs is introduced. Results This metabolic network-driven approach identified 15 L. major genes as high-priority targets, 8 high-priority synthetic lethal targets, and 254 FDA-approved drugs. Results were compared to previous literature findings and existing high-throughput screens. Halofantrine, an antimalarial agent that was prioritized using MetDP, showed noticeable antileishmanial activity when experimentally evaluated in vitro against L. major promastigotes. Furthermore, synthetic lethality predictions also aided in the prediction of superadditive drug combinations. For proof-of-concept, double-drug combinations were evaluated in vitro against L. major and four combinations involving the drug disulfiram that showed superadditivity are presented. Conclusions A direct metabolic network-driven method that incorporates single gene essentiality and synthetic lethality predictions is proposed that generates a set of high-priority L. major targets, which are in turn associated with a select number of FDA-approved drugs that are candidate antileishmanials. Additionally, selection of high-priority double-drug combinations might provide for an attractive and alternative avenue for drug discovery against leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arvind K Chavali
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
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Sarver JG, Trendel JA, Bearss NR, Wang L, Luniwal A, Erhardt PW, Viola RE. Early stage efficacy and toxicology screening for antibiotics and enzyme inhibitors. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2012; 17:673-82. [PMID: 22460173 DOI: 10.1177/1087057112438769] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The rise in organisms resistant to existing drugs has added urgency to the search for new antimicrobial agents. Aspartate β-semialdehyde dehydrogenase (ASADH) catalyzes a critical step in an essential microbial pathway that is absent in mammals. Our laboratory is using fragment library screening to identify efficient and selective ASADH inhibitors. These preliminary agents are then tested to identify compounds with desired antimicrobial properties for further refinement. Toward this end, we have established a microplate-based, dual-assay approach using a single reagent to evaluate antibiotic activity and mammalian cell toxicity during early stage development. The bacterial assay uses nonpathogenic bacteria to allow efficacy testing without a dedicated microbial laboratory. Toxicity assays are performed with a panel of mammalian cells derived from representative susceptible tissues. These assays can be adapted to target other microbial systems, such as fungi and biofilms, and additional mammalian cell lines can be added as needed. Application of this screening approach to antibiotic standards demonstrates the ability of these assays to identify bacterial selectivity and potential toxicity issues. Tests with selected agents from the ASADH inhibitor fragment library show some compounds with antibiotic activity, but as expected, most of these early agents display higher than desired mammalian cell toxicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey G Sarver
- Center for Drug Design and Development, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA.
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Costa SDS, de Assis Golim M, Rossi-Bergmann B, Costa FTM, Giorgio S. Use of in vivo and in vitro systems to select Leishmania amazonensis expressing green fluorescent protein. THE KOREAN JOURNAL OF PARASITOLOGY 2011; 49:357-64. [PMID: 22355202 PMCID: PMC3279673 DOI: 10.3347/kjp.2011.49.4.357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2011] [Revised: 08/09/2011] [Accepted: 08/24/2011] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Various Leishmania species were engineered with green fluorescent protein (GFP) using episomal vectors that encoded an antibiotic resistance gene, such as aminoglycoside geneticin sulphate (G418). Most reports of GFP-Leishmania have used the flagellated extracellular promastigote, the stage of parasite detected in the midgut of the sandfly vector; fewer studies have been performed with amastigotes, the stage of parasite detected in mammals. In this study, comparisons were made regarding the efficiency for in vitro G418 selection of GFP-Leishmania amazonensis promastigotes and amastigotes and the use of in vivo G418 selection. The GFP-promastigotes retained episomal plasmid for a prolonged period and G418 treatment was necessary and efficient for in vitro selection. In contrast, GFP-amastigotes showed low retention of the episomal plasmid in the absence of G418 selection and low sensitivity to antibiotics in vitro. The use of protocols for G418 selection using infected BALB/c mice also indicated low sensitivity to antibiotics against amastigotes in cutaneous lesions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Solange dos Santos Costa
- Department of Animal Biology, Biology Institute, Universidade Estadual de Campinas Caixa Postal 6109, Cep 13.083-970 Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
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Michel G, Ferrua B, Lang T, Maddugoda MP, Munro P, Pomares C, Lemichez E, Marty P. Luciferase-expressing Leishmania infantum allows the monitoring of amastigote population size, in vivo, ex vivo and in vitro. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2011; 5:e1323. [PMID: 21931877 PMCID: PMC3172198 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0001323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2011] [Accepted: 08/05/2011] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Here we engineered transgenic Leishmania infantum that express luciferase, the objectives being to more easily monitor in real time their establishment either in BALB/c mice—the liver and spleen being mainly studied—or in vitro. Whatever stationary phase L. infantum promastigotes population—wild type or engineered to express luciferase—the parasite burden was similar in the liver and the spleen at day 30 post the intravenous inoculation of BALB/c mice. Imaging of L. infantum hosting BALB/C mice provided sensitivity in the range of 20,000 to 40,000 amastigotes/mg tissue, two tissues—liver and spleen—being monitored. Once sampled and processed ex vivo for their luciferin-dependent bioluminescence the threshold sensitivity was shown to range from 1,000 to 6,000 amastigotes/mg tissue. This model further proved to be valuable for in vivo measurement of the efficiency of drugs such as miltefosine and may, therefore, additionally be used to evaluate vaccine-induced protection. Leishmania infantum/L. chagasi parasites are inoculated in the skin of mammals by sand flies. Though most often these L. infantum-mammal interactions are asymptomatic, they can proceed, in some individuals, to a systemic disease known as visceral leishmaniasis. If left untreated this disease is fatal. The lack of protective or curative vaccines and the limited number of parasite-targeting drugs were incentive to set up experimental conditions that could allow easy monitoring of the fluctuation of the population size of parasites in living laboratory animals. Thus, in the present report, we depict two distinct readout assays that rely on a population of L. infantum we genetically engineered for stably expressing the firefly luciferase gene. These transgenic parasites were either inoculated to BALB/c mice or added to a culture of monocytic cells. Post intravenous inoculation, BALB/c mice were imaged over time, with special attention being given to the liver and the spleen. The sensitivity of this technique ranged from 20,000 to 40,000 parasites/mg of tissue and from 1,000 to 6,000 parasites/mg tissue, for in vivo and ex vivo measurements, respectively. Though preliminary, the data, relying on monocytic cells, are promising for further in vitro screening of small compound libraries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grégory Michel
- Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, Faculté de Médecine, Nice, France.
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Chadbourne FL, Raleigh C, Ali HZ, Denny PW, Cobb SL. Studies on the antileishmanial properties of the antimicrobial peptides temporin A, B and 1Sa. J Pept Sci 2011; 17:751-5. [PMID: 21805542 DOI: 10.1002/psc.1398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2011] [Revised: 06/23/2011] [Accepted: 06/24/2011] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Given the paucity and toxicity of available drugs for leishmaniasis, coupled with the advent of drug resistance, the discovery of new therapies for this neglected tropical disease is recognised as being of the utmost urgency. As such antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been proposed as promising compounds against the causative Leishmania species, insect vector-borne protozoan parasites. Here the AMP temporins A, B and 1Sa have been synthesised and screened for activity against Leishmania mexicana insect stage promastigotes and mammalian stage amastigotes, a significant cause of human cutaneous disease. In contrast to previous studies with other species the activity of these AMPs against L. mexicana amastigotes was low. This suggests that amastigotes from different Leishmania species display varying susceptibility to peptides from the temporin family, perhaps indicating differences in their surface structure, the proposed target of these AMPs. In contrast, insect stage L. mexicana promastigotes were sensitive to two of the screened temporins which clearly demonstrates the importance of screening AMPs against both forms of the parasite.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frances L Chadbourne
- Biophysical Sciences Institute, Department of Chemistry and School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Durham University, UK
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Jorda R, Sacerdoti-Sierra N, Voller J, Havlíček L, Kráčalíková K, Nowicki MW, Nasereddin A, Kryštof V, Strnad M, Walkinshaw MD, Jaffe CL. Anti-leishmanial activity of disubstituted purines and related pyrazolo[4,3-d]pyrimidines. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 2011; 21:4233-7. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2011.05.076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2011] [Revised: 05/19/2011] [Accepted: 05/20/2011] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
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Mansour NR, Bickle QD. Comparison of microscopy and Alamar blue reduction in a larval based assay for schistosome drug screening. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2010; 4:e795. [PMID: 20706580 PMCID: PMC2919390 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0000795] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2010] [Accepted: 07/14/2010] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Background In view of the current widespread use of and reliance on a single schistosomicide, praziquantel, there is a pressing need to discover and develop alternative drugs for schistosomiasis. One approach to this is to develop High Throughput in vitro whole organism screens (HTS) to identify hits amongst large compound libraries. Methodology/Principal Findings We have been carrying out low throughput (24-well plate) in vitro testing based on microscopic evaluation of killing of ex-vivo adult S. mansoni worms using selected compound collections mainly provided through the WHO-TDR Helminth Drug Initiative. To increase throughput, we introduced a similar but higher throughput 96-well primary in vitro assay using the schistosomula stage which can be readily produced in vitro in large quantities. In addition to morphological readout of viability we have investigated using fluorometric determination of the reduction of Alamar blue (AB), a redox indicator of enzyme activity widely used in whole organism screening. A panel of 7 known schistosome active compounds including praziquantel, produced diverse effects on larval morphology within 3 days of culture although only two induced marked larval death within 7 days. The AB assay was very effective in detecting these lethal compounds but proved more inconsistent in detecting compounds which damaged but did not kill. The utility of the AB assay in detecting compounds which cause severe morbidity and/or death of schistosomula was confirmed in testing a panel of compounds previously selected in library screening as having activity against the adult worms. Furthermore, in prospective library screening, the AB assay was able to detect all compounds which induced killing and also the majority of compounds designated as hits based on morphological changes. Conclusion We conclude that an HTS combining AB readout and image-based analysis would provide an efficient and stringent primary assay for schistosome drug discovery. Only one drug, praziquantel, is widely available for treating schistosomiasis, a disease affecting an estimated 200 million people. Because of increasing usage there is concern about development of praziquantel drug resistance and a perceived need to develop new schistosomicides. Possible sources of these are large collections of compounds held by pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions. Anti-schistosome activity can be detected in vitro by visually assessing damage to cultured adult schistosome worms, but these are large and are recovered from mice which somewhat limits screening throughput. By contrast, schistosomula can be produced in vitro and used for screening in microwell plates, thus allowing medium throughput screening. High throughput screening (HTS) would require automated readout of schistosomulicidal action rather than manual microscopy. Here we report on the use of Alamar blue (AB), a fluorescent indicator of cell viability which can be measured rapidly and automatically. The AB assay was readily able to detect compounds causing death or severe damage to the larvae but was less reliable than microscopy for more subtle morphological changes including those induced by some known schistosome drugs. It is concluded that an automated HTS would benefit from integrated use of both AB and automatic image-based morphology assays.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nuha R. Mansour
- Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Quentin D. Bickle
- Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
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Liarte DB, Murta SMF. Selection and phenotype characterization of potassium antimony tartrate-resistant populations of four New World Leishmania species. Parasitol Res 2010; 107:205-12. [PMID: 20372925 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-010-1852-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2009] [Accepted: 03/18/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
In the present study, we selected in vitro populations of Leishmania Viannia guyanensis, L.V. braziliensis, L. Leishmania amazonensis and L.L. infantum chagasi that were resistant to potassium antimony tartrate (SbIII). The resistance index of these populations varied from 4- to 20-fold higher than that of their wild-type counterparts. To evaluate the stability of the resistance phenotype, these four resistant populations were passaged 37 to 47 times in a culture medium without SbIII. No change was observed in the resistance indexes of L.V. guyanensis (19-fold) and L.L. infantum chagasi (4-fold). In contrast, a decrease in the resistance index was observed for L.V. braziliensis (from 20- to 10-fold) and L.L. amazonensis (from 6- to 3-fold). None of the antimony-resistant populations exhibited cross-resistance to amphotericin B and miltefosine. However, the resistant populations of L.V. braziliensis, L.L. amazonensis and L.L. infantum chagasi were also resistant to paromomycin. A drastic reduction was observed in the infectivity in mice for the resistant L.V. guyanensis, L.L. amazonensis and L.V. braziliensis populations. The SbIII-resistant phenotype of L.V. braziliensis was stable after one passage in mice. Although the protocol of induction was the same, the SbIII-resistant populations showed different degrees of tolerance, stability, infectivity in mice and cross-resistance to antileishmanial drugs, depending on the Leishmania species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel B Liarte
- Laboratório de Parasitologia Celular e Molecular, Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou-CPqRR/Fiocruz, Av. Augusto de Lima 1715, Caixa Postal 1743, CEP 30190-002, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
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Alakurtti S, Bergström P, Sacerdoti-Sierra N, Jaffe CL, Yli-Kauhaluoma J. Anti-leishmanial activity of betulin derivatives. J Antibiot (Tokyo) 2010; 63:123-6. [DOI: 10.1038/ja.2010.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Synthesis and anti-leishmanial activity of heterocyclic betulin derivatives. Bioorg Med Chem 2010; 18:1573-82. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2010.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2009] [Revised: 12/22/2009] [Accepted: 01/02/2010] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Malki-Feldman L, Jaffe CL. Leishmania major: Effect of protein kinase A and phosphodiesterase activity on infectivity and proliferation of promastigotes. Exp Parasitol 2009; 123:39-44. [DOI: 10.1016/j.exppara.2009.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2009] [Revised: 04/30/2009] [Accepted: 05/13/2009] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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In vitro susceptibilities of Leishmania donovani promastigote and amastigote stages to antileishmanial reference drugs: practical relevance of stage-specific differences. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2009; 53:3855-9. [PMID: 19546361 DOI: 10.1128/aac.00548-09] [Citation(s) in RCA: 188] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The in vitro susceptibilities of the reference strain Leishmania donovani MHOM/ET/67/L82 to sodium stibogluconate, amphotericin B, miltefosine, and the experimental compound PX-6518 were determined for extracellular log-phase promastigotes, established axenic amastigotes, fresh spleen-derived amastigotes, and intracellular amastigotes in primary mouse peritoneal macrophages. Susceptibility to amphotericin B did not differ across the various axenic models (50% inhibitory concentrations [IC50], 0.6 to 0.7 microM), and amphotericin B showed slightly higher potency against intracellular amastigotes (IC50, 0.1 to 0.4 microM). A similar trend was observed for miltefosine, with comparable efficacies against the extracellular (IC50, 0.4 to 3.8 microM) and intracellular (IC50, 0.9 to 4.3 microM) stages. Sodium stibogluconate, used either as Pentostam or as a crystalline substance, was inactive against all axenic stages (IC50, >64 microg SbV/ml) but showed good efficacy against intracellular amastigotes (IC50, 22 to 28 microg SbV/ml); the crystalline substance was about two to three times more potent (IC50, 9 to 11 microg SbV/ml). The activity profile of PX-6518 was comparable to that of sodium stibogluconate, but at a much higher potency (IC50, 0.1 microg/ml). In conclusion, the differential susceptibility determines which in vitro models are appropriate for either drug screening or resistance monitoring of clinical field isolates. Despite the more complex and labor-intensive protocol, the current results support the intracellular amastigote model as the gold standard for in vitro Leishmania drug discovery research and for evaluation of the resistance of field strains, since it also includes host cell-mediated effects. Axenic systems can be recommended only for compounds for which no cellular mechanisms are involved, for example, amphotericin B and miltefosine.
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