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Tom AA, Rajendran V, Thottasseri AA, Goswami K, Roy S, Gopan G, Mani M, Kannan T. Antiplasmodial action of 4-nitrobenzenesulfonamide chalcones: Design, synthesis, characterisation, in vitro and in silico evaluation against blood stages of Plasmodium falciparum 3D7. Drug Dev Res 2024; 85:e22233. [PMID: 39030842 DOI: 10.1002/ddr.22233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2024] [Revised: 06/13/2024] [Accepted: 06/29/2024] [Indexed: 07/22/2024]
Abstract
Malaria is an intracellular protozoan parasitic disease caused by Plasmodium species with significant morbidity and mortality in endemic regions. The complex lifecycle of the parasite and the emergence of drug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum have hampered the efficacy of current anti-malarial agents. To circumvent this situation, the present study attempts to demonstrate the blood-stage anti-plasmodial action of 26 hybrid compounds containing the three privileged bioactive scaffolds (sulfonamide, chalcone, and nitro group) with synergistic and multitarget action. These three parent scaffolds exhibit divergent activities, such as antibacterial, anti-malarial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer. All the synthesised compounds were characterised using various spectroscopic techniques. The in vitro blood-stage inhibitory activity of 26 hybrid compounds was evaluated against mixed-stage culture (asynchronize) of human malarial parasite P. falciparum, Pf 3D7 at different concentrations ranging from 25.0 µg/mL to 0.78 µg/mL using SYBR 1 green assay, with IC50 values determined after 48 h of treatment based on the drug-response curves. Two potent compounds (11 and 10), with 2-Br and 2,6-diCl substitutions, showed pronounced activity with IC50 values of 5.4 µg/mL and 5.6 µg/mL, whereas others displayed varied activity with IC50 values ranging from 7.0 µg/mL to 22.0 µg/mL. Both 11 and 10 showed greater susceptibility towards mature-stage trophozoites than ring-stage parasites. The hemolytic and in vitro cytotoxicity assays revealed that compounds 11 and 10 did not cause any toxic effects on host red blood cells (uninfected), human-derived Mo7e cells, and murine-derived BA/F3 cells. The in vitro observations are consistent with the in silico studies using P. falciparum-dihydrofolate reductase, where 11 and 10 showed a binding affinity of -10.4 Kcal/mol. This is the first report of the hybrid scaffold, 4-nitrobenzenesulfonamide chalcones, demonstrating its potential as an anti-plasmodial agent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anju Agnes Tom
- Department of Chemistry, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, India
| | - Vinoth Rajendran
- Department of Microbiology, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, India
| | | | - Koustav Goswami
- Department of Chemistry, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, India
| | - Souvik Roy
- Department of Chemistry, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, India
| | - Gopika Gopan
- Department of Microbiology, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, India
| | - Maheswaran Mani
- Department of Microbiology, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, India
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Sridapan T, Rattanakoch P, Kijprasong K, Srisutham S. Drug resistance markers in Plasmodium vivax isolates from a Kanchanaburi province, Thailand between January to May 2023. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0304337. [PMID: 38968216 PMCID: PMC11226124 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0304337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2023] [Accepted: 05/10/2024] [Indexed: 07/07/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Plasmodium vivax has become the predominant species in the border regions of Thailand. The emergence and spread of antimalarial drug resistance in P. vivax is one of the significant challenges for malaria control. Continuous surveillance of drug resistance is therefore necessary for monitoring the development of drug resistance in the region. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of the mutation in the P. vivax multidrug resistant 1 (Pvmdr1), dihydrofolate reductase (Pvdhfr), and dihydropteroate synthetase (Pvdhps) genes conferred resistance to chloroquine (CQ), pyrimethamine (P) and sulfadoxine (S), respectively. METHOD 100 P. vivax isolates were obtained between January to May 2023 from a Kanchanaburi province, western Thailand. Nucleotide sequences of Pvmdr1, Pvdhfr, and Pvdhps genes were amplified and sequenced. The frequency of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)-haplotypes of drug-resistant alleles was assessed. The linkage disequilibrium (LD) tests were also analyzed. RESULTS In Pvmdr1, T958M, Y976F, and F1076L, mutations were detected in 100%, 21%, and 23% of the isolates, respectively. In Pvdhfr, the quadruple mutant allele (I57R58M61T117) prevailed in 84% of the samples, followed by (L57R58M61T117) in 11%. For Pvdhps, the double mutant allele (G383G553) was detected (48%), followed by the triple mutant allele (G383M512G553) (47%) of the isolates. The most prevalent combination of Pvdhfr (I57R58M61T117) and Pvdhps (G383G553) alleles was sextuple mutated haplotypes (48%). For LD analysis, the association in the SNPs pairs was found between the intragenic and intergenic regions of the Pvdhfr and Pvdhps genes. CONCLUSION The study has recently updated the high prevalence of three gene mutations associated with CQ and SP resistance. Genetic monitoring is therefore important to intensify in the regions to further assess the spread of drug resistant. Our data also provide evidence on the distribution of drug resistance for the early warning system, thereby threatening P. vivax malaria treatment policy decisions at the national level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thanawat Sridapan
- Department of Clinical Microscopy, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Paweesuda Rattanakoch
- Department of Clinical Microscopy, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | | | - Suttipat Srisutham
- Department of Clinical Microscopy, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
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Leela N, Prommana P, Kamchonwongpaisan S, Taechalertpaisarn T, Shaw PJ. Antimalarial target vulnerability of the putative Plasmodium falciparum methionine synthase. PeerJ 2024; 12:e16595. [PMID: 38239295 PMCID: PMC10795524 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.16595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 11/14/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Plasmodium falciparum possesses a cobalamin-dependent methionine synthase (MS). MS is putatively encoded by the PF3D7_1233700 gene, which is orthologous and syntenic in Plasmodium. However, its vulnerability as an antimalarial target has not been assessed. Methods We edited the PF3D7_1233700 and PF3D7_0417200 (dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase, DHFR-TS) genes and obtained transgenic P. falciparum parasites expressing epitope-tagged target proteins under the control of the glmS ribozyme. Conditional loss-of-function mutants were obtained by treating transgenic parasites with glucosamine. Results DHFR-TS, but not MS mutants showed a significant proliferation defect over 96 h, suggesting that P. falciparum MS is not a vulnerable antimalarial target.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nirut Leela
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Parichat Prommana
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency, Pathum Thani, Thailand
| | - Sumalee Kamchonwongpaisan
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency, Pathum Thani, Thailand
| | - Tana Taechalertpaisarn
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Philip J. Shaw
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency, Pathum Thani, Thailand
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Andrade AO, Santos NAC, Bastos AS, Pontual JDC, Araújo CS, Lima AS, Martinez LN, Ferreira AS, Aguiar ACC, Teles CBG, Guido RVC, Santana RA, Lopes SCP, Medeiros JF, Rizopoulos Z, Vinetz JM, Campo B, Lacerda MVG, Araújo MS. Optimization of Plasmodium vivax infection of colonized Amazonian Anopheles darlingi. Sci Rep 2023; 13:18207. [PMID: 37875508 PMCID: PMC10598059 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-44556-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Obtaining Plasmodium vivax sporozoites is essential for in vitro culture of liver stage parasites, not only to understand fundamental aspects of parasite biology, but also for drug and vaccine development. A major impediment to establish high-throughput in vitro P. vivax liver stage assays for drug development is obtaining sufficient numbers of sporozoites. To do so, female anopheline mosquitoes have to be fed on blood from P. vivax-infected patients through an artificial membrane-feeding system, which in turns requires a well-established Anopheles colony. In this study we established conditions to provide a robust supply of P. vivax sporozoites. Adding a combination of serum replacement and antibiotics to the membrane-feeding protocol was found to best improve sporozoite production. A simple centrifugation method appears to be a possible tool for rapidly obtaining purified sporozoites with a minimal loss of yield. However, this method needs to be better defined since sporozoite viability and hepatocyte infection were not evaluated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice O Andrade
- Plataforma de Produção e Infecção de Vetores da Malária (PIVEM)/Laboratório de Entomologia, Fiocruz Rondônia, Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Saúde Publica, Faculdade de Saúde Pública, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Najara Akira C Santos
- Plataforma de Produção e Infecção de Vetores da Malária (PIVEM)/Laboratório de Entomologia, Fiocruz Rondônia, Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Experimental, Fundação Universidade Federal de Rondônia, Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil
| | - Alessandra S Bastos
- Plataforma de Produção e Infecção de Vetores da Malária (PIVEM)/Laboratório de Entomologia, Fiocruz Rondônia, Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Experimental, Fundação Universidade Federal de Rondônia, Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil
| | - José Daniel C Pontual
- Plataforma de Produção e Infecção de Vetores da Malária (PIVEM)/Laboratório de Entomologia, Fiocruz Rondônia, Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil
| | - Cristiane S Araújo
- Plataforma de Produção e Infecção de Vetores da Malária (PIVEM)/Laboratório de Entomologia, Fiocruz Rondônia, Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Conservação e uso de Recursos Naturais - PPGReN, Fundação Universidade Federal de Rondônia, Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil
| | - Analice S Lima
- Plataforma de Produção e Infecção de Vetores da Malária (PIVEM)/Laboratório de Entomologia, Fiocruz Rondônia, Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil
- Faculdades Integradas Aparício Carvalho (FIMCA), Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil
| | - Leandro N Martinez
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Saúde Publica, Faculdade de Saúde Pública, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- Plataforma de Bioensaios de Malária e Leishmaniose da Fiocruz (PBML), Fiocruz Rondônia, Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil
| | - Amália S Ferreira
- Plataforma de Bioensaios de Malária e Leishmaniose da Fiocruz (PBML), Fiocruz Rondônia, Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil
| | - Anna Caroline C Aguiar
- Departamento de Biociência, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Santos, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Carolina B G Teles
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Experimental, Fundação Universidade Federal de Rondônia, Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil
- Plataforma de Bioensaios de Malária e Leishmaniose da Fiocruz (PBML), Fiocruz Rondônia, Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil
- Rede de Biodiversidade e Biotecnologia da Amazônia Legal - BIONORTE, Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil
| | - Rafael V C Guido
- São Carlos Institute of Physics, University of Sao Paulo, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Rosa A Santana
- Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Carlos Borborema, Fundação de Medicina Tropical Dr. Heitor Vieira Dourado, Manaus, Brazil
| | - Stefanie C P Lopes
- Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Carlos Borborema, Fundação de Medicina Tropical Dr. Heitor Vieira Dourado, Manaus, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Medicina Tropical, Universidade do Estado do Amazonas, Manaus, Brazil
- Instituto Leônidas & Maria Deane, FIOCRUZ, Manaus, Brazil
| | - Jansen F Medeiros
- Plataforma de Produção e Infecção de Vetores da Malária (PIVEM)/Laboratório de Entomologia, Fiocruz Rondônia, Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Experimental, Fundação Universidade Federal de Rondônia, Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil
| | | | - Joseph M Vinetz
- Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
- Alexander von Humboldt Institute of Tropical Medicine and Faculty of Sciences, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru
| | - Brice Campo
- Medicines for Malaria Venture, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Marcus Vinicius G Lacerda
- Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Carlos Borborema, Fundação de Medicina Tropical Dr. Heitor Vieira Dourado, Manaus, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Medicina Tropical, Universidade do Estado do Amazonas, Manaus, Brazil
- Instituto Leônidas & Maria Deane, FIOCRUZ, Manaus, Brazil
| | - Maisa S Araújo
- Plataforma de Produção e Infecção de Vetores da Malária (PIVEM)/Laboratório de Entomologia, Fiocruz Rondônia, Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil.
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Conservação e uso de Recursos Naturais - PPGReN, Fundação Universidade Federal de Rondônia, Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil.
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Ibrahim TM, Abada G, Dammann M, Maklad RM, Eldehna WM, Salem R, Abdelaziz MM, El-Domany RA, Bekhit AA, Beockler FM. Tetrahydrobenzo[h]quinoline derivatives as a novel chemotype for dual antileishmanial-antimalarial activity graced with antitubercular activity: Design, synthesis and biological evaluation. Eur J Med Chem 2023; 257:115534. [PMID: 37269671 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.115534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2022] [Revised: 05/25/2023] [Accepted: 05/28/2023] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Derivatives with tetrahydrobenzo[h]quinoline chemotype were synthesized via one-pot reactions and evaluated for their antileishmanial, antimalarial and antitubercular activities. Based on a structure-guided approach, they were designed to possess antileishmanial activity through antifolate mechanism, via targeting Leishmania major pteridine reductase 1 (Lm-PTR1). The in vitro antipromastigote and antiamastigote activity are promising for all candidates and superior to the reference miltefosine, in a low or sub micromolar range of activity. Their antifolate mechanism was confirmed via the ability of folic and folinic acids to reverse the antileishmanial activity of these compounds, comparably to Lm-PTR1 inhibitor trimethoprim. Molecular dynamics simulations confirmed a stable and high potential binding of the most active candidates against leishmanial PTR1. For the antimalarial activity, most of the compounds exhibited promising antiplasmodial effect against P. berghei with suppression percentage of up to 97.78%. The most active compounds were further screened in vitro against the chloroquine resistant strain P. falciparum, (RKL9) and showed IC50 value range of 0.0198-0.096 μM, compared to IC50 value of 0.19420 μM for chloroquine sulphate. Molecular docking of the most active compounds against the wild-type and quadruple mutant pf DHFR-TS structures rationalized the in vitro antimalarial activity. Some candidates showed good antitubercular activity against sensitive Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a low micromolar range of MIC, compared to 0.875 μM of isoniazid. The top active ones were further tested against a multidrug-resistant strain (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant strain (XDR) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Interestingly, the in vitro cytotoxicity test of the best candidates displayed high selectivity indices emphasizing their safety on mammalian cells. Generally, this work introduces a fruitful matrix for new dual acting antileishmanial-antimalarial chemotype graced with antitubercular activity. This would help in tackling drug-resistance issues in treating some Neglected Tropical Diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamer M Ibrahim
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafrelsheikh, P.O. Box 33516, Egypt; Laboratory for Molecular Design and Pharmaceutical Biophysics, Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Institute of Pharmacy, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 8, 72076, Tuebingen, Germany; Scientific Research and Innovation Support Unit, Faculty of Pharmacy, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafrelsheikh, P.O. Box 33516, Egypt.
| | - Ghada Abada
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafrelsheikh, P.O. Box 33516, Egypt
| | - Marcel Dammann
- Laboratory for Molecular Design and Pharmaceutical Biophysics, Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Institute of Pharmacy, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 8, 72076, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Raed M Maklad
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafrelsheikh, P.O. Box 33516, Egypt
| | - Wagdy M Eldehna
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafrelsheikh, P.O. Box 33516, Egypt; Scientific Research and Innovation Support Unit, Faculty of Pharmacy, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafrelsheikh, P.O. Box 33516, Egypt
| | - Rofaida Salem
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafrelsheikh, P.O. Box 33516, Egypt
| | - Marwa M Abdelaziz
- The Regional Center for Mycology & Biotechnology, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Ramadan A El-Domany
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafrelsheikh, P.O. Box 33516, Egypt
| | - Adnan A Bekhit
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, Alexandria, 21521, Egypt; Pharmacy Program, Allied Health Department, College of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Bahrain, P.O. Box 32038, Bahrain
| | - Frank M Beockler
- Laboratory for Molecular Design and Pharmaceutical Biophysics, Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Institute of Pharmacy, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 8, 72076, Tuebingen, Germany
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Basco LK. Cultivation of Asexual Intraerythrocytic Stages of Plasmodium falciparum. Pathogens 2023; 12:900. [PMID: 37513747 PMCID: PMC10384318 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens12070900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Revised: 06/22/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Successfully developed in 1976, the continuous in vitro culture of Plasmodium falciparum has many applications in the field of malaria research. It has become an important experimental model that directly uses a human pathogen responsible for a high prevalence of morbidity and mortality in many parts of the world and is a major source of biological material for immunological, biochemical, molecular, and pharmacological studies. Until present, the basic techniques described by Trager and Jensen and Haynes et al. remain unchanged in many malaria research laboratories. Nonetheless, different factors, including culture media, buffers, serum substitutes and supplements, sources of erythrocytes, and conditions of incubation (especially oxygen concentration), have been modified by different investigators to adapt the original technique in their laboratories or enhance the in vitro growth of the parasites. The possible effects and benefits of these modifications for the continuous cultivation of asexual intraerythrocytic stages of P. falciparum, as well as future challenges in developing a serum-free cultivation system and axenic cultures, are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonardo K Basco
- Aix-Marseille Université, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Marseille (AP-HM), Service de Santé des Armées (SSA), Unité Mixte de Recherche (UMR) Vecteurs-Infections Tropicales et Méditerranéennes (VITROME), 13005 Marseille, France
- Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire-Méditerranée Infection, 19-21 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13005 Marseille, France
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Umumararungu T, Nkuranga JB, Habarurema G, Nyandwi JB, Mukazayire MJ, Mukiza J, Muganga R, Hahirwa I, Mpenda M, Katembezi AN, Olawode EO, Kayitare E, Kayumba PC. Recent developments in antimalarial drug discovery. Bioorg Med Chem 2023; 88-89:117339. [PMID: 37236020 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2023.117339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2023] [Revised: 05/12/2023] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Although malaria remains a big burden to many countries that it threatens their socio-economic stability, particularly in the countries where malaria is endemic, there have been great efforts to eradicate this disease with both successes and failures. For example, there has been a great improvement in malaria prevention and treatment methods with a net reduction in infection and mortality rates. However, the disease remains a global threat in terms of the number of people affected because it is one of the infectious diseases that has the highest prevalence rate, especially in Africa where the deadly Plasmodium falciparum is still widely spread. Methods to fight malaria are being diversified, including the use of mosquito nets, the target candidate profiles (TCPs) and target product profiles (TPPs) of medicine for malarial venture (MMV) strategy, the search for newer and potent drugs that could reverse chloroquine resistance, and the use of adjuvants such as rosiglitazone and sevuparin. Although these adjuvants have no antiplasmodial activity, they can help to alleviate the effects which result from plasmodium invasion such as cytoadherence. The list of new antimalarial drugs under development is long, including the out of ordinary new drugs MMV048, CDRI-97/78 and INE963 from South Africa, India and Novartis, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Théoneste Umumararungu
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Rwanda.
| | - Jean Bosco Nkuranga
- Department of Chemistry, School of Science, College of Science and Technology, University of Rwanda, Rwanda
| | - Gratien Habarurema
- Department of Chemistry, School of Science, College of Science and Technology, University of Rwanda, Rwanda
| | - Jean Baptiste Nyandwi
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Rwanda
| | - Marie Jeanne Mukazayire
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Rwanda
| | - Janvier Mukiza
- Department of Mathematical Science and Physical Education, School of Education, College of Education, University of Rwanda, Rwanda; Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority, Nyarutarama Plaza, KG 9 Avenue, Kigali, Rwanda
| | - Raymond Muganga
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Rwanda; Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority, Nyarutarama Plaza, KG 9 Avenue, Kigali, Rwanda
| | - Innocent Hahirwa
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Rwanda
| | - Matabishi Mpenda
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Rwanda
| | - Alain Nyirimigabo Katembezi
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Rwanda; Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority, Nyarutarama Plaza, KG 9 Avenue, Kigali, Rwanda
| | - Emmanuel Oladayo Olawode
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Larkin University, 18301 N Miami Ave #1, Miami, FL 33169, USA
| | - Egide Kayitare
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Rwanda
| | - Pierre Claver Kayumba
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Rwanda
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8
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Singh P, Lonardi S, Liang Q, Vydyam P, Khabirova E, Fang T, Gihaz S, Thekkiniath J, Munshi M, Abel S, Ciampossin L, Batugedara G, Gupta M, Lu XM, Lenz T, Chakravarty S, Cornillot E, Hu Y, Ma W, Gonzalez LM, Sánchez S, Estrada K, Sánchez-Flores A, Montero E, Harb OS, Le Roch KG, Mamoun CB. Babesia duncani multi-omics identifies virulence factors and drug targets. Nat Microbiol 2023; 8:845-859. [PMID: 37055610 PMCID: PMC10159843 DOI: 10.1038/s41564-023-01360-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2022] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 04/15/2023]
Abstract
Babesiosis is a malaria-like disease in humans and animals that is caused by Babesia species, which are tick-transmitted apicomplexan pathogens. Babesia duncani causes severe to lethal infection in humans, but despite the risk that this parasite poses as an emerging pathogen, little is known about its biology, metabolic requirements or pathogenesis. Unlike other apicomplexan parasites that infect red blood cells, B. duncani can be continuously cultured in vitro in human erythrocytes and can infect mice resulting in fulminant babesiosis and death. We report comprehensive, detailed molecular, genomic, transcriptomic and epigenetic analyses to gain insights into the biology of B. duncani. We completed the assembly, 3D structure and annotation of its nuclear genome, and analysed its transcriptomic and epigenetics profiles during its asexual life cycle stages in human erythrocytes. We used RNA-seq data to produce an atlas of parasite metabolism during its intraerythrocytic life cycle. Characterization of the B. duncani genome, epigenome and transcriptome identified classes of candidate virulence factors, antigens for diagnosis of active infection and several attractive drug targets. Furthermore, metabolic reconstitutions from genome annotation and in vitro efficacy studies identified antifolates, pyrimethamine and WR-99210 as potent inhibitors of B. duncani to establish a pipeline of small molecules that could be developed as effective therapies for the treatment of human babesiosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pallavi Singh
- Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Stefano Lonardi
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA.
| | - Qihua Liang
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Pratap Vydyam
- Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | | | - Tiffany Fang
- Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Shalev Gihaz
- Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Jose Thekkiniath
- Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Muhammad Munshi
- Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Steven Abel
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Loic Ciampossin
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Gayani Batugedara
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Mohit Gupta
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Xueqing Maggie Lu
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Todd Lenz
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Sakshar Chakravarty
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Emmanuel Cornillot
- Institut de Biologie Computationnelle (IBC), and Institut de Recherche en Cancérologie de Montpellier (IRCM - INSERM U1194), Institut régional du Cancer Montpellier (ICM) and Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Yangyang Hu
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Wenxiu Ma
- Department of Statistics, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Luis Miguel Gonzalez
- Parasitology Reference and Research Laboratory, National Centre for Microbiology, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain
| | - Sergio Sánchez
- Reference and Research Laboratory on Food and Waterborne Bacterial Infections, National Centre for Microbiology, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain
| | - Karel Estrada
- Unidad Universitaria de Secuenciación Masiva y Bioinformática, Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cuernavaca, México
| | - Alejandro Sánchez-Flores
- Unidad Universitaria de Secuenciación Masiva y Bioinformática, Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cuernavaca, México
| | - Estrella Montero
- Parasitology Reference and Research Laboratory, National Centre for Microbiology, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain
| | - Omar S Harb
- Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Karine G Le Roch
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA.
| | - Choukri Ben Mamoun
- Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
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9
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Hoarau M, Suwanakitti N, Varatthan T, Thiabma R, Rattanajak R, Charoensetakul N, Redman EK, Khotavivattana T, Vilaivan T, Yuthavong Y, Kamchonwongpaisan S. Assay Development and Identification of the First Plasmodium falciparum 7,8-dihydro-6-hydroxymethylpterin-pyrophosphokinase Inhibitors. MOLECULES (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 27:molecules27113515. [PMID: 35684452 PMCID: PMC9182141 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27113515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2022] [Revised: 05/23/2022] [Accepted: 05/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
In the fight towards eradication of malaria, identifying compounds active against new drug targets constitutes a key approach. Plasmodium falciparum 7,8-dihydro-6-hydroxymethylpterin-pyrophosphokinase (PfHPPK) has been advanced as a promising target, as being part of the parasite essential folate biosynthesis pathway while having no orthologue in the human genome. However, no drug discovery efforts have been reported on this enzyme. In this study, we conducted a three-step screening of our in-house antifolate library against PfHPPK using a newly designed PfHPPK-GFP protein construct. Combining virtual screening, differential scanning fluorimetry and enzymatic assay, we identified 14 compounds active against PfHPPK. Compounds’ binding modes were investigated by molecular docking, suggesting competitive binding with the HMDP substrate. Cytotoxicity and in vitro ADME properties of hit compounds were also assessed, showing good metabolic stability and low toxicity. The most active compounds displayed low micromolar IC50 against drug-resistant parasites. The reported hit compounds constitute a good starting point for inhibitor development against PfHPPK, as an alternative approach to tackle the malaria parasite.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie Hoarau
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand; (N.S.); (T.V.); (R.T.); (R.R.); (N.C.); (Y.Y.); (S.K.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Nattida Suwanakitti
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand; (N.S.); (T.V.); (R.T.); (R.R.); (N.C.); (Y.Y.); (S.K.)
| | - Thaveechai Varatthan
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand; (N.S.); (T.V.); (R.T.); (R.R.); (N.C.); (Y.Y.); (S.K.)
| | - Ratthiya Thiabma
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand; (N.S.); (T.V.); (R.T.); (R.R.); (N.C.); (Y.Y.); (S.K.)
| | - Roonglawan Rattanajak
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand; (N.S.); (T.V.); (R.T.); (R.R.); (N.C.); (Y.Y.); (S.K.)
| | - Netnapa Charoensetakul
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand; (N.S.); (T.V.); (R.T.); (R.R.); (N.C.); (Y.Y.); (S.K.)
| | - Emily K. Redman
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand; (E.K.R.); (T.V.)
| | - Tanatorn Khotavivattana
- Center of Excellence in Natural Products Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand;
| | - Tirayut Vilaivan
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand; (E.K.R.); (T.V.)
| | - Yongyuth Yuthavong
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand; (N.S.); (T.V.); (R.T.); (R.R.); (N.C.); (Y.Y.); (S.K.)
| | - Sumalee Kamchonwongpaisan
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand; (N.S.); (T.V.); (R.T.); (R.R.); (N.C.); (Y.Y.); (S.K.)
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10
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Standard Selection Treatments with Sulfadiazine Limit Plasmodium yoelii Host-to-Vector Transmission. mSphere 2022; 7:e0010622. [PMID: 35586987 PMCID: PMC9241536 DOI: 10.1128/msphere.00106-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Some antimalarial drugs that have lost clinical usefulness have been repurposed for experimental applications. One example is sulfadiazine, an analog of p-aminobenzoic acid (pABA), which inhibits the parasite's folate synthesis pathway to block DNA synthesis. Sulfadiazine treatment of mice infected with Plasmodium yoelii and P. berghei is routinely used to enrich for gametocytes by killing asexual blood-stage parasites, but it is not well known if there are downstream effects on transmission. To determine if there was a significant effect of sulfadiazine exposure upon transmission, we transmitted Plasmodium yoelii (17XNL strain) parasites to Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes and evaluated the prevalence and intensity of infection under different sulfadiazine treatment conditions. We observed that there was a reduction in both the number of mosquitoes that became infected and in the intensity of infection if parasites were exposed to sulfadiazine in the mouse host or mosquito vector. Sulfadiazine treatment could be marginally overcome if mosquitoes were provided fresh pABA. In contrast, we determined that gametocytes exposed to sulfadiazine could develop into morphologically mature ookinetes in vitro, thus sulfadiazine exposure in the host may be reversible if the drug is washed out and the parasites are supplemented with pABA in the culture media. Overall, this indicates that sulfadiazine dampens host-to-vector transmission and that this inhibition can only be partially overcome by exposure to fresh pABA in vivo and in vitro. Because gametocytes are of great interest for developing transmission-blocking interventions, we recommend the use of less disruptive approaches for gametocyte enrichment. IMPORTANCE In this work, we have uncovered a substantial problem with how many studies of the sexual stages of rodent malaria parasites are conducted. Briefly, the isolation of sexual blood-stage Plasmodium parasites, or gametocytes, is essential to study pretransmission and transmission-stage biology of malaria. A routine method for the isolation of this specific stage in rodent-infectious malaria models is drug treatment with sulfadiazine, an antifolate that selectively kills actively replicating asexual blood-stage parasites but not gametocytes. Thus, researchers use this as a convenient way to produce highly enriched gametocyte samples. However, in this work, we describe how this standard drug selection with sulfadiazine not only kills asexual blood-stage parasites but also substantially impacts host-to-vector transmission.
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11
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Nair S, Li X, Arya GA, McDew-White M, Ferrari M, Anderson T. Nutrient Limitation Magnifies Fitness Costs of Antimalarial Drug Resistance Mutations. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2022; 66:e0152921. [PMID: 35465723 PMCID: PMC9112896 DOI: 10.1128/aac.01529-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2021] [Accepted: 02/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Drug resistance mutations tend to disrupt key physiological processes and frequently carry fitness costs, which are a central determinant of the rate of spread of these mutations in natural populations. Head-to-head competition assays provide a standard approach to measuring fitness for malaria parasites. These assays typically use a standardized culture medium containing RPMI 1640, which has a 1.4- to 5.5-fold higher concentration of amino acids than human blood. In this rich medium, we predict that fitness costs will be underestimated because resource competition is weak. We tested this prediction using an artemisinin-sensitive parasite edited to contain kelch-C580Y or R561H mutations conferring resistance to artemisinin or synonymous control mutations. We examined the impact of these single amino acid mutations on fitness, using replicated head-to-head competition experiments conducted in media containing (i) normal RPMI, (ii) modified RPMI with reduced amino acid concentration, (iii) RPMI containing only isoleucine, or (iv) 3-fold diluted RPMI. We found a significant 1.3- to 1.4-fold increase in fitness costs measured in modified and isoleucine-only media relative to normal media, while fitness costs were 2.5-fold higher in diluted media. We conclude that fitness costs are strongly affected by media composition and will be significantly underestimated in normal RPMI. Several components differed between media, including pABA and sodium bicarbonate concentrations, so we cannot directly determine which is responsible. Elevated fitness costs in nature will limit spread of artemisinin (ART) resistance but will also promote evolution of compensatory mutations that restore fitness and can be exploited to maximize selection in laboratory experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shalini Nair
- Disease Intervention and Prevention Program, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
| | - Xue Li
- Disease Intervention and Prevention Program, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
| | - Grace A. Arya
- Disease Intervention and Prevention Program, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
| | - Marina McDew-White
- Disease Intervention and Prevention Program, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
| | - Marco Ferrari
- Disease Intervention and Prevention Program, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
| | - Tim Anderson
- Disease Intervention and Prevention Program, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
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12
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Slipknot or Crystallographic Error: A Computational Analysis of the Plasmodium falciparum DHFR Structural Folds. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23031514. [PMID: 35163439 PMCID: PMC8835989 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23031514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2021] [Revised: 01/21/2022] [Accepted: 01/25/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
The presence of protein structures with atypical folds in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) is rare and may result from naturally occurring knots or crystallographic errors. Proper characterisation of such folds is imperative to understanding the basis of naturally existing knots and correcting crystallographic errors. If left uncorrected, such errors can frustrate downstream experiments that depend on the structures containing them. An atypical fold has been identified in P. falciparum dihydrofolate reductase (PfDHFR) between residues 20–51 (loop 1) and residues 191–205 (loop 2). This enzyme is key to drug discovery efforts in the parasite, necessitating a thorough characterisation of these folds. Using multiple sequence alignments (MSA), a unique insert was identified in loop 1 that exacerbates the appearance of the atypical fold-giving it a slipknot-like topology. However, PfDHFR has not been deposited in the knotted proteins database, and processing its structure failed to identify any knots within its folds. The application of protein homology modelling and molecular dynamics simulations on the DHFR domain of P. falciparum and those of two other organisms (E. coli and M. tuberculosis) that were used as molecular replacement templates in solving the PfDHFR structure revealed plausible unentangled or open conformations of these loops. These results will serve as guides for crystallographic experiments to provide further insights into the atypical folds identified.
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13
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Zeng W, Zhao H, Zhao W, Yang Q, Li X, Li X, Duan M, Wang X, Li C, Xiang Z, Chen X, Cui L, Yang Z. Molecular Surveillance and Ex Vivo Drug Susceptibilities of Plasmodium vivax Isolates From the China-Myanmar Border. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2021; 11:738075. [PMID: 34790586 PMCID: PMC8591282 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.738075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2021] [Accepted: 08/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Drug resistance in Plasmodium vivax may pose a challenge to malaria elimination. Previous studies have found that P. vivax has a decreased sensitivity to antimalarial drugs in some areas of the Greater Mekong Sub-region. This study aims to investigate the ex vivo drug susceptibilities of P. vivax isolates from the China–Myanmar border and genetic variations of resistance-related genes. A total of 46 P. vivax clinical isolates were assessed for ex vivo susceptibility to seven antimalarial drugs using the schizont maturation assay. The medians of IC50 (half-maximum inhibitory concentrations) for chloroquine, artesunate, and dihydroartemisinin from 46 parasite isolates were 96.48, 1.95, and 1.63 nM, respectively, while the medians of IC50 values for piperaquine, pyronaridine, mefloquine, and quinine from 39 parasite isolates were 19.60, 15.53, 16.38, and 26.04 nM, respectively. Sequence polymorphisms in pvmdr1 (P. vivax multidrug resistance-1), pvmrp1 (P. vivax multidrug resistance protein 1), pvdhfr (P. vivax dihydrofolate reductase), and pvdhps (P. vivax dihydropteroate synthase) were determined by PCR and sequencing. Pvmdr1 had 13 non-synonymous substitutions, of which, T908S and T958M were fixed, G698S (97.8%) and F1076L (93.5%) were highly prevalent, and other substitutions had relatively low prevalences. Pvmrp1 had three non-synonymous substitutions, with Y1393D being fixed, G1419A approaching fixation (97.8%), and V1478I being rare (2.2%). Several pvdhfr and pvdhps mutations were relatively frequent in the studied parasite population. The pvmdr1 G698S substitution was associated with a reduced sensitivity to chloroquine, artesunate, and dihydroartemisinin. This study suggests the possible emergence of P. vivax isolates resistant to certain antimalarial drugs at the China–Myanmar border, which demands continuous surveillance for drug resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weilin Zeng
- Department of Pathogen Biology and Immunology, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
| | - Hui Zhao
- Department of Pathogen Biology and Immunology, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
| | - Wei Zhao
- Department of Pathogen Biology and Immunology, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
| | - Qi Yang
- Department of Pathogen Biology and Immunology, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
| | - Xinxin Li
- Department of Pathogen Biology and Immunology, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
| | - Xiaosong Li
- Department of Pathogen Biology and Immunology, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
| | - Mengxi Duan
- Department of Pathogen Biology and Immunology, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
| | - Xun Wang
- Department of Pathogen Biology and Immunology, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
| | - Cuiying Li
- Department of Pathogen Biology and Immunology, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
| | - Zheng Xiang
- Department of Pathogen Biology and Immunology, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
| | - Xi Chen
- Department of Pathogen Biology and Immunology, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
| | - Liwang Cui
- Department of Internal Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States
| | - Zhaoqing Yang
- Department of Pathogen Biology and Immunology, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
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14
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Posayapisit N, Pengon J, Prommana P, Shoram M, Yuthavong Y, Uthaipibull C, Kamchonwongpaisan S, Jupatanakul N. Transgenic pyrimethamine-resistant plasmodium falciparum reveals transmission-blocking potency of P218, a novel antifolate candidate drug. Int J Parasitol 2021; 51:635-642. [PMID: 33713651 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2020.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2020] [Revised: 11/23/2020] [Accepted: 12/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Antimalarial drugs capable of targeting multiple parasite stages, particularly the transmissible stages, can be valuable tools for advancing the malaria elimination agenda. Current antifolate drugs such as pyrimethamine can inhibit replicative parasite stages in both humans and mosquitoes, but antifolate resistance remains a challenge. The lack of reliable gametocyte-producing, antifolate-resistant Plasmodium falciparum laboratory strain hinders the study of new antifolate compounds that can overcome antifolate resistance including development stages in the mosquito. We used clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-Cas9 genome editing to develop a transgenic gametocyte-producing strain of P. falciparum with quadruple mutations (N51I, C59R, S108N, I164L) in the dihydrofolate reductase (dhfr) gene, using NF54 as a parental strain. The transgenic parasites exhibited pyrimethamine resistance while maintaining their gametocyte-producing activity. We then demonstrated that pyrimethamine could no longer inhibit male gametocyte exflagellation in the transgenic parasite. In contrast, P218, the novel antifolate, designed to overcome antifolate resistance, potently inhibited exflagellation. The exflagellation IC50 of P218 was five times lower than the asexual stage half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50), suggesting a strong barrier for transmission of P218-resistant parasites. The transgenic gametocyte-producing, pyrimethamine-resistant parasite is a robust system for evaluating novel antifolate compounds against non-asexual stage development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Navaporn Posayapisit
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
| | - Jutharat Pengon
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
| | - Parichat Prommana
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
| | - Molnipha Shoram
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
| | - Yongyuth Yuthavong
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
| | - Chairat Uthaipibull
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
| | | | - Natapong Jupatanakul
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand.
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15
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Parra M, Yang J, Weitner M, Akkoyunlu M. Neonatal mice resist Plasmodium yoelii infection until exposed to para-aminobenzoic acid containing diet after weaning. Sci Rep 2021; 11:90. [PMID: 33420157 PMCID: PMC7794322 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-79703-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2020] [Accepted: 12/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
We developed a newborn (NB) mouse Plasmodium yoelii NL infection model to study malaria in early age. Surprisingly, the onset of parasitemia in P. yoelii challenged NB mice was delayed compared to adults and coincided with the weaning date when weanlings switched from maternal milk to normal chow diet. Also, compared to adult mice, parasitemia resolved much later (48 days vs 20 days post challenge) and the peak parasitemia was twice as high in weanlings. Concurrently, weanlings’ germinal center reaction was delayed and diminished compared to adult mice. Maternal milk is deficient in para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), which is required for de novo folate synthesis by Plasmodium. Suggesting a possible role for the protection afforded by PABA-deficient maternal milk, mice fed with a PABA-deficient diet after the weaning continued to control parasitemia. Despite the reduced parasitemia, these mice developed robust T follicular helper (Tfh) responses and were protected from a second P. yoelii challenge. The NB malaria model provides mechanistic insight into the human infant malaria manifestations where a diet solely based on breast-feeding reduces the incidence of severe malaria in infants. NB mice experiments also support further studies to investigate dietary PABA restriction in the management of severe malaria in infants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcela Parra
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Division of Bacterial Allergenic and Parasitic Diseases, US Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Jiyeon Yang
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Division of Bacterial Allergenic and Parasitic Diseases, US Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Megan Weitner
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Division of Bacterial Allergenic and Parasitic Diseases, US Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA.,Viral & Rickettsial Diseases Department (NMRC VRDD), Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Mustafa Akkoyunlu
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Division of Bacterial Allergenic and Parasitic Diseases, US Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA. .,DBPAP, US FDA, CBER, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Building 52/72, Room, 5214, Silver Spring, MD, 209903, USA.
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16
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Korbmacher F, Drepper B, Sanderson T, Martin P, Stach T, Maier AG, Matuschewski K, Matz JM. An apicoplast-resident folate transporter is essential for sporogony of malaria parasites. Cell Microbiol 2021; 23:e13266. [PMID: 32975363 PMCID: PMC7616068 DOI: 10.1111/cmi.13266] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2020] [Revised: 08/14/2020] [Accepted: 09/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Malaria parasites are fast replicating unicellular organisms and require substantial amounts of folate for DNA synthesis. Despite the central role of this critical co-factor for parasite survival, only little is known about intraparasitic folate trafficking in Plasmodium. Here, we report on the expression, subcellular localisation and function of the parasite's folate transporter 2 (FT2) during life cycle progression in the murine malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei. Using live fluorescence microscopy of genetically engineered parasites, we demonstrate that FT2 localises to the apicoplast. In invasive P. berghei stages, a fraction of FT2 is also observed at the apical end. Upon genetic disruption of FT2, blood and liver infection, gametocyte production and mosquito colonisation remain unaltered. But in the Anopheles vector, FT2-deficient parasites develop inflated oocysts with unusual pulp formation consisting of numerous single-membrane vesicles, which ultimately fuse to form large cavities. Ultrastructural analysis suggests that this defect reflects aberrant sporoblast formation caused by abnormal vesicular traffic. Complete sporogony in FT2-deficient oocysts is very rare, and mutant sporozoites fail to establish hepatocyte infection, resulting in a complete block of parasite transmission. Our findings reveal a previously unrecognised organellar folate transporter that exerts critical roles for pathogen maturation in the arthropod vector.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francois Korbmacher
- Department of Molecular Parasitology, Institute of Biology, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
- Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - Benjamin Drepper
- Department of Molecular Parasitology, Institute of Biology, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
| | - Theo Sanderson
- Malaria Biochemistry Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK
| | - Peer Martin
- Department of Molecular Parasitology, Institute of Biology, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
| | - Thomas Stach
- Department of Molecular Parasitology, Institute of Biology, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
| | - Alexander G. Maier
- Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - Kai Matuschewski
- Department of Molecular Parasitology, Institute of Biology, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
| | - Joachim M. Matz
- Department of Molecular Parasitology, Institute of Biology, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
- Malaria Biochemistry Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK
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17
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Ribeiro JA, Hammer A, Libreros-Zúñiga GA, Chavez-Pacheco SM, Tyrakis P, de Oliveira GS, Kirkman T, El Bakali J, Rocco SA, Sforça ML, Parise-Filho R, Coyne AG, Blundell TL, Abell C, Dias MVB. Using a Fragment-Based Approach to Identify Alternative Chemical Scaffolds Targeting Dihydrofolate Reductase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. ACS Infect Dis 2020; 6:2192-2201. [PMID: 32603583 DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.0c00263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), a key enzyme involved in folate metabolism, is a widely explored target in the treatment of cancer, immune diseases, bacteria, and protozoa infections. Although several antifolates have proved successful in the treatment of infectious diseases, they have been underexplored to combat tuberculosis, despite the essentiality of M. tuberculosis DHFR (MtDHFR). Herein, we describe an integrated fragment-based drug discovery approach to target MtDHFR that has identified hits with scaffolds not yet explored in any previous drug design campaign for this enzyme. The application of a SAR by catalog strategy of an in house library for one of the identified fragments has led to a series of molecules that bind to MtDHFR with low micromolar affinities. Crystal structures of MtDHFR in complex with compounds of this series demonstrated a novel binding mode that considerably differs from other DHFR antifolates, thus opening perspectives for the development of relevant MtDHFR inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- João A. Ribeiro
- Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Science, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 1474, São Paulo, SP 05508-000, Brazil
- Institute of Biology, University of Campinas, Cidade Universitária Zeferino Vaz, CEP, Campinas, SP 13083-862, Brazil
| | - Alexander Hammer
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, U.K
| | - Gerardo A. Libreros-Zúñiga
- Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Science, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 1474, São Paulo, SP 05508-000, Brazil
- Department of Biology, IBILCE-State University of São Paulo, Rua Cristóvão Colombo, 2265, J. Nazareth, São José do Rio Preto, SP 15054-000, Brazil
- Department of Microbiology, University of Valle, Calle 4B # 36-00, Cali 760043, Colombia
| | - Sair M. Chavez-Pacheco
- Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Science, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 1474, São Paulo, SP 05508-000, Brazil
| | - Petros Tyrakis
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1GA, U.K
| | - Gabriel S. de Oliveira
- Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Science, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 1474, São Paulo, SP 05508-000, Brazil
| | - Timothy Kirkman
- Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Gibbet Hill, Coventry CV4 7AL, U.K
| | - Jamal El Bakali
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, U.K
| | - Silvana A. Rocco
- National Laboratory of Biosciences, Rua Giuseppe Máximo Scolfaro, 10000, Campinas, SP 13083-100, Brazil
| | - Mauricio L. Sforça
- National Laboratory of Biosciences, Rua Giuseppe Máximo Scolfaro, 10000, Campinas, SP 13083-100, Brazil
| | - Roberto Parise-Filho
- Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 580, São Paulo, SP 05508-000, Brazil
| | - Anthony G. Coyne
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, U.K
| | - Tom L. Blundell
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1GA, U.K
| | - Chris Abell
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, U.K
| | - Marcio V. B. Dias
- Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Science, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 1474, São Paulo, SP 05508-000, Brazil
- Institute of Biology, University of Campinas, Cidade Universitária Zeferino Vaz, CEP, Campinas, SP 13083-862, Brazil
- Department of Biology, IBILCE-State University of São Paulo, Rua Cristóvão Colombo, 2265, J. Nazareth, São José do Rio Preto, SP 15054-000, Brazil
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1GA, U.K
- Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Gibbet Hill, Coventry CV4 7AL, U.K
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18
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Khairallah A, Tastan Bishop Ö, Moses V. AMBER force field parameters for the Zn (II) ions of the tunneling-fold enzymes GTP cyclohydrolase I and 6-pyruvoyl tetrahydropterin synthase. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2020; 39:5843-5860. [PMID: 32720563 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2020.1796800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
The folate biosynthesis pathway is an essential pathway for cell growth and survival. Folate derivatives serve as a source of the one-carbon units in several intracellular metabolic reactions. Rapidly dividing cells rely heavily on the availability of folate derivatives for their proliferation. As a result, drugs targeting this pathway have shown to be effective against tumor cells and pathogens, but drug resistance against the available antifolate drugs emerged quickly. Therefore, there is a need to develop new treatment strategies and identify alternative metabolic targets. The two de novo folate biosynthesis pathway enzymes, GTP cyclohydrolase I (GCH1) and 6-pyruvoyl tetrahydropterin synthase (PTPS), can provide an alternative strategy to overcome the drug resistance that emerged in the two primary targeted enzymes dihydrofolate reductase and dihydropteroate synthase. Both GCH1 and PTPS enzymes contain Zn2+ ions in their active sites, and to accurately study their dynamic behaviors using all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, appropriate parameters that can describe their metal sites should be developed and validated. In this study, force field parameters of the GCH1 and PTPS metal centers were generated using quantum mechanics (QM) calculations and then validated through MD simulations to ensure their accuracy in describing and maintaining the Zn2+ ion coordination environment. The derived force field parameters will provide accurate and reliable MD simulations involving these two enzymes for future in-silico identification of drug candidates against the GCH1 and PTPS enzymes. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Afrah Khairallah
- Research Unit in Bioinformatics (RUBi), Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa
| | - Özlem Tastan Bishop
- Research Unit in Bioinformatics (RUBi), Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa
| | - Vuyani Moses
- Research Unit in Bioinformatics (RUBi), Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa
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Wang X, Ruan W, Zhou S, Feng X, Yan H, Huang F. Prevalence of molecular markers associated with drug resistance of Plasmodium vivax isolates in Western Yunnan Province, China. BMC Infect Dis 2020; 20:307. [PMID: 32334523 PMCID: PMC7183581 DOI: 10.1186/s12879-020-05032-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2019] [Accepted: 04/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Plasmodium vivax is the most widely distributed malaria parasite, and its drug resistance poses unique challenges to malaria elimination. The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) is known as the global epicenter of multidrug resistance. Surveillance of molecular markers associated with drug resistance in this area will help to inform drug policy. METHODS Dry blood spots from 58 patients out of 109 with P. vivax infection between 2017, December and 2019, March were obtained from Yingjiang County, Yunnan Province, along the China-Myanmar border. Pvdhfr, Pvdhps, Pvmdr1 and Pvcrt-o were amplified and sequenced to assess gene mutations. The polymorphism and prevalence of these molecular markers were analyzed. RESULTS Mutations in Pvdhfr at codons 57, 58, 61, 99 and 117 were detected in 27.59, 48.28, 27.59, 32.76 and 48.28% of the isolates, respectively. Single mutant haplotype (I13F57S58T61S99S117I173) was the most frequent (29.31%, 17/58), followed by double mutant haplotype (20.69%, 12/58). Of three types of tandem repeat variations of Pvdhfr, deletion type was the most common. Pvdhps showed a lower prevalence among mutation genotypes. Single mutant was dominant and accounted for 34.48% (20/58). Prevalence of Pvmdr1 mutations at codons 958 and 1076 were 100.00% and 84.48%, respectively. The proportion of double and single mutant types was 84.48% (49/58) and 15.52% (9/58), respectively. Eleven samples (18.97%, 11/58) showed K10 "AAG" insertion in chloroquine resistance transporter gene Pvcrt-o. CONCLUSIONS There was moderate diversity of molecular patterns of resistance markers of Pvdhfr, Pvdhps, Pvmdr1 and Pvcrt-o in imported P. vivax cases to Yingjiang county in Western Yunnan, along the China-Myanmar border. Prevalence and molecular pattern of candidate drug resistance markers Pvdhfr, Pvdhps, Pvmdr1 and Pvcrt-o were demonstrated in this current study, which would help to update drug policy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoxiao Wang
- National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Key Laboratory of Parasite and Vector Biology, MOH, and WHO Collaborating Centre for Malaria, Schistosomiasis and Filariasis, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
- Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China
| | - Wei Ruan
- Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China
| | - Shuisen Zhou
- National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Key Laboratory of Parasite and Vector Biology, MOH, and WHO Collaborating Centre for Malaria, Schistosomiasis and Filariasis, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
| | - Xinyu Feng
- National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Key Laboratory of Parasite and Vector Biology, MOH, and WHO Collaborating Centre for Malaria, Schistosomiasis and Filariasis, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
| | - He Yan
- National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Key Laboratory of Parasite and Vector Biology, MOH, and WHO Collaborating Centre for Malaria, Schistosomiasis and Filariasis, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
| | - Fang Huang
- National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Key Laboratory of Parasite and Vector Biology, MOH, and WHO Collaborating Centre for Malaria, Schistosomiasis and Filariasis, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
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20
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Álvarez-Bardón M, Pérez-Pertejo Y, Ordóñez C, Sepúlveda-Crespo D, Carballeira NM, Tekwani BL, Murugesan S, Martinez-Valladares M, García-Estrada C, Reguera RM, Balaña-Fouce R. Screening Marine Natural Products for New Drug Leads against Trypanosomatids and Malaria. Mar Drugs 2020; 18:E187. [PMID: 32244488 PMCID: PMC7230869 DOI: 10.3390/md18040187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/29/2020] [Revised: 03/24/2020] [Accepted: 03/25/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) represent a serious threat to humans, especially for those living in poor or developing countries. Almost one-sixth of the world population is at risk of suffering from these diseases and many thousands die because of NTDs, to which we should add the sanitary, labor and social issues that hinder the economic development of these countries. Protozoan-borne diseases are responsible for more than one million deaths every year. Visceral leishmaniasis, Chagas disease or sleeping sickness are among the most lethal NTDs. Despite not being considered an NTD by the World Health Organization (WHO), malaria must be added to this sinister group. Malaria, caused by the apicomplexan parasite Plasmodium falciparum, is responsible for thousands of deaths each year. The treatment of this disease has been losing effectiveness year after year. Many of the medicines currently in use are obsolete due to their gradual loss of efficacy, their intrinsic toxicity and the emergence of drug resistance or a lack of adherence to treatment. Therefore, there is an urgent and global need for new drugs. Despite this, the scant interest shown by most of the stakeholders involved in the pharmaceutical industry makes our present therapeutic arsenal scarce, and until recently, the search for new drugs has not been seriously addressed. The sources of new drugs for these and other pathologies include natural products, synthetic molecules or repurposing drugs. The most frequent sources of natural products are microorganisms, e.g., bacteria, fungi, yeasts, algae and plants, which are able to synthesize many drugs that are currently in use (e.g. antimicrobials, antitumor, immunosuppressants, etc.). The marine environment is another well-established source of bioactive natural products, with recent applications against parasites, bacteria and other pathogens which affect humans and animals. Drug discovery techniques have rapidly advanced since the beginning of the millennium. The combination of novel techniques that include the genetic modification of pathogens, bioimaging and robotics has given rise to the standardization of High-Performance Screening platforms in the discovery of drugs. These advancements have accelerated the discovery of new chemical entities with antiparasitic effects. This review presents critical updates regarding the use of High-Throughput Screening (HTS) in the discovery of drugs for NTDs transmitted by protozoa, including malaria, and its application in the discovery of new drugs of marine origin.
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Affiliation(s)
- María Álvarez-Bardón
- Department of Biomedical Sciences; University of León, 24071 León, Spain; (M.Á.-B.); (Y.P.-P.); (C.O.); (D.S.-C.); (R.M.R.)
| | - Yolanda Pérez-Pertejo
- Department of Biomedical Sciences; University of León, 24071 León, Spain; (M.Á.-B.); (Y.P.-P.); (C.O.); (D.S.-C.); (R.M.R.)
| | - César Ordóñez
- Department of Biomedical Sciences; University of León, 24071 León, Spain; (M.Á.-B.); (Y.P.-P.); (C.O.); (D.S.-C.); (R.M.R.)
| | - Daniel Sepúlveda-Crespo
- Department of Biomedical Sciences; University of León, 24071 León, Spain; (M.Á.-B.); (Y.P.-P.); (C.O.); (D.S.-C.); (R.M.R.)
| | - Nestor M. Carballeira
- Department of Chemistry, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras 00925-2537, San Juan, Puerto Rico;
| | - Babu L. Tekwani
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Division of Drug Discovery, Southern Research, Birmingham, AL 35205, USA;
| | - Sankaranarayanan Murugesan
- Department of Pharmacy, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani Campus, Vidya Vihar, Pilani 333031, India;
| | - Maria Martinez-Valladares
- Department of Animal Health, Instituto de Ganadería de Montaña (CSIC-Universidad de León), Grulleros, 24346 León, Spain;
| | - Carlos García-Estrada
- INBIOTEC (Instituto de Biotecnología de León), Avda. Real 1-Parque Científico de León, 24006 León, Spain;
| | - Rosa M. Reguera
- Department of Biomedical Sciences; University of León, 24071 León, Spain; (M.Á.-B.); (Y.P.-P.); (C.O.); (D.S.-C.); (R.M.R.)
| | - Rafael Balaña-Fouce
- Department of Biomedical Sciences; University of León, 24071 León, Spain; (M.Á.-B.); (Y.P.-P.); (C.O.); (D.S.-C.); (R.M.R.)
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21
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Matz JM, Watanabe M, Falade M, Tohge T, Hoefgen R, Matuschewski K. Plasmodium Para-Aminobenzoate Synthesis and Salvage Resolve Avoidance of Folate Competition and Adaptation to Host Diet. Cell Rep 2020; 26:356-363.e4. [PMID: 30625318 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.12.062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2018] [Revised: 11/26/2018] [Accepted: 12/14/2018] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Folate metabolism is essential for DNA synthesis and a validated drug target in fast-growing cell populations, including tumors and malaria parasites. Genome data suggest that Plasmodium has retained its capacity to generate folates de novo. However, the metabolic plasticity of folate uptake and biosynthesis by the malaria parasite remains unresolved. Here, we demonstrate that Plasmodium uses an aminodeoxychorismate synthase and an aminodeoxychorismate lyase to promote the biogenesis of the central folate precursor para-aminobenzoate (pABA) in the cytoplasm. We show that the parasite depends on de novo folate synthesis only when dietary intake of pABA by the mammalian host is restricted and that only pABA, rather than fully formed folate, is taken up efficiently. This adaptation, which readily adjusts infection to highly variable pABA levels in the mammalian diet, is specific to blood stages and may have evolved to avoid folate competition between the parasite and its host.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joachim Michael Matz
- Department of Molecular Parasitology, Institute of Biology, Humboldt University, 10115 Berlin, Germany; Parasitology Unit, Max Planck Institute of Infection Biology, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
| | - Mutsumi Watanabe
- Department of Molecular Physiology, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, 14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany; Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Graduate School of Biological Sciences, Plant Secondary Metabolism, 8916-5 Takayama-cho, Ikoma, Nara 630-0192, Japan
| | | | - Takayuki Tohge
- Department of Molecular Physiology, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, 14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany; Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Graduate School of Biological Sciences, Plant Secondary Metabolism, 8916-5 Takayama-cho, Ikoma, Nara 630-0192, Japan
| | - Rainer Hoefgen
- Department of Molecular Physiology, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, 14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany
| | - Kai Matuschewski
- Department of Molecular Parasitology, Institute of Biology, Humboldt University, 10115 Berlin, Germany; Parasitology Unit, Max Planck Institute of Infection Biology, 10117 Berlin, Germany
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Chitnumsub P, Jaruwat A, Talawanich Y, Noytanom K, Liwnaree B, Poen S, Yuthavong Y. The structure of Plasmodium falciparum hydroxymethyldihydropterin pyrophosphokinase-dihydropteroate synthase reveals the basis of sulfa resistance. FEBS J 2020; 287:3273-3297. [PMID: 31883412 DOI: 10.1111/febs.15196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2019] [Revised: 12/04/2019] [Accepted: 12/27/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The clinical efficacy of sulfa drugs as antimalarials has declined owing to the evolution of resistance in Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) malaria parasites. In order to understand the basis of this resistance and to design more effective antimalarials, we have solved 13 structures of the bifunctional enzyme 6-hydroxymethyl-7,8-dihydropterin pyrophosphokinase (HPPK)-dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) from wild-type (WT) P. falciparum and sulfa-resistant mutants, both as apoenzyme and as complexes with pteroate (PTA) and sulfa derivatives. The structures of these complexes show that PTA, which effectively inhibits both the WT and mutants, stays in active sites without steric constraint. In contrast, parts of the sulfa compounds situated outside of the substrate envelope are in the vicinity of the resistance mutations. Steric conflict between compound and mutant residue along with increased flexibility of loop D2 in the mutants can account for the reduced compound binding affinity to the mutants. Kinetic data show that the mutants have enhanced enzyme activity compared with the WT. These PfDHPS structural insights are critical for the design of novel, substrate envelope-compliant DHPS inhibitors that are less vulnerable to resistance mutations. DATABASES: The data reported in this paper have been deposited in the Protein Data Bank, www.wwpdb.org. PDB ID codes: 6JWQ for apoWT; 6JWR, 6JWS, and 6JWT for PTA complexes of WT, A437G (3D7), and V1/S; 6JWU, 6JWV, and 6JWW for STZ-DHP complexes of WT, 3D7, and V1/S; 6JWX, 6JWY, and 6JWZ for SDX-DHP complexes of WT, 3D7, and W2; 6KCK, 6KCL, and 6KCM for Pterin/pHBA complexes of WT, TN1, and W2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Penchit Chitnumsub
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency, Pathumthani, Thailand
| | - Aritsara Jaruwat
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency, Pathumthani, Thailand
| | - Yuwadee Talawanich
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency, Pathumthani, Thailand
| | - Krittikar Noytanom
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency, Pathumthani, Thailand
| | - Benjamas Liwnaree
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency, Pathumthani, Thailand
| | - Sinothai Poen
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency, Pathumthani, Thailand
| | - Yongyuth Yuthavong
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency, Pathumthani, Thailand
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23
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Brabin B, Tinto H, Roberts SA. Testing an infection model to explain excess risk of preterm birth with long-term iron supplementation in a malaria endemic area. Malar J 2019; 18:374. [PMID: 31771607 PMCID: PMC6880560 DOI: 10.1186/s12936-019-3013-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2019] [Accepted: 11/16/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Background In view of recent evidence from a randomized trial in Burkina Faso that periconceptional iron supplementation substantially increases risk of spontaneous preterm birth (< 37 weeks) in first pregnancies (adjusted relative risk = 2.22; 95% CI 1.39–3.61), explanation is required to understand potential mechanisms, including progesterone mediated responses, linking long-term iron supplementation, malaria and gestational age. Methods The analysis developed a model based on a dual hit inflammatory mechanism arising from simultaneous malaria and gut infections, supported in part by published trial results. This model is developed to understand mechanisms linking iron supplementation, malaria and gestational age. Background literature substantiates synergistic inflammatory effects of these infections where trial data is unavailable. A path modelling exercise assessed direct and indirect paths influencing preterm birth and gestation length. Results A dual hit hypothesis incorporates two main pathways for pro-inflammatory mechanisms, which in this model, interact to increase hepcidin expression. Trial data showed preterm birth was positively associated with C-reactive protein (P = 0.0038) an inflammatory biomarker. The malaria pathway upregulates C-reactive protein and serum hepcidin, thereby reducing iron absorption. The enteric pathway results from unabsorbed gut iron, which induces microbiome changes and pathogenic gut infections, initiating pro-inflammatory events with lipopolysaccharide expression. Data from the trial suggest that raised hepcidin concentration is a mediating catalyst, being inversely associated with shorter gestational age at delivery (P = 0.002) and positively with preterm incidence (P = 0.007). A segmented regression model identified a change-point consisting of two segments before and after a sharp rise in hepcidin concentration. This showed a post change hepcidin elevation in women with increasing C-reactive protein values in late gestation (post-change slope 0.55. 95% CI 0.39–0.92, P < 0.001). Path modelling confirmed seasonal malaria effects on preterm birth, with mediation through C-reactive protein and (non-linear) hepcidin induction. Conclusions Following long-term iron supplementation, dual inflammatory pathways that mediate hepcidin expression and culminate in progesterone withdrawal may account for the reduction in gestational age observed in first pregnancies in this area of high malaria exposure. If correct, this model strongly suggests that in such areas, effective infection control is required prior to iron supplementation to avoid increasing preterm births. Trial registration NCT01210040. Registered with Clinicaltrials.gov on 27th September 2010
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernard Brabin
- Department of Clinical Sciences, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, L35QA, UK. .,Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK. .,Global Child Health Group, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Halidou Tinto
- Clinical Research Unit of Nanoro (URCN/IRSS), Nanoro, Burkina Faso
| | - Stephen A Roberts
- Centre for Biostatistics, Division of Population Health, Health Services Research and Primary Care, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (MAHSC), Manchester, UK
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24
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Valenciano AL, Fernández-Murga ML, Merino EF, Holderman NR, Butschek GJ, Shaffer KJ, Tyler PC, Cassera MB. Metabolic dependency of chorismate in Plasmodium falciparum suggests an alternative source for the ubiquinone biosynthesis precursor. Sci Rep 2019; 9:13936. [PMID: 31558748 PMCID: PMC6763611 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-50319-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2019] [Accepted: 09/10/2019] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The shikimate pathway, a metabolic pathway absent in humans, is responsible for the production of chorismate, a branch point metabolite. In the malaria parasite, chorismate is postulated to be a direct precursor in the synthesis of p-aminobenzoic acid (folate biosynthesis), p-hydroxybenzoic acid (ubiquinone biosynthesis), menaquinone, and aromatic amino acids. While the potential value of the shikimate pathway as a drug target is debatable, the metabolic dependency of chorismate in P. falciparum remains unclear. Current evidence suggests that the main role of chorismate is folate biosynthesis despite ubiquinone biosynthesis being active and essential in the malaria parasite. Our goal in the present work was to expand our knowledge of the ubiquinone head group biosynthesis and its potential metabolic dependency on chorismate in P. falciparum. We systematically assessed the development of both asexual and sexual stages of P. falciparum in a defined medium in the absence of an exogenous supply of chorismate end-products and present biochemical evidence suggesting that the benzoquinone ring of ubiquinones in this parasite may be synthesized through a yet unidentified route.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Lisa Valenciano
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, and Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases (CTEGD), University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, 30602, United States
| | - Maria L Fernández-Murga
- Laboratory of Experimental Pathology, Health Research Institute Hospital La Fe, Valencia, 46026, Spain
| | - Emilio F Merino
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, and Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases (CTEGD), University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, 30602, United States
| | - Nicole R Holderman
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, and Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases (CTEGD), University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, 30602, United States
| | - Grant J Butschek
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, and Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases (CTEGD), University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, 30602, United States
| | - Karl J Shaffer
- The Ferrier Research Institute, Victoria University of Wellington, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
| | - Peter C Tyler
- The Ferrier Research Institute, Victoria University of Wellington, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
| | - Maria Belen Cassera
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, and Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases (CTEGD), University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, 30602, United States.
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25
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Synthesis, in silico experiments and biological evaluation of 1,3,4-trisubstituted pyrazole derivatives as antimalarial agents. Eur J Med Chem 2019; 163:353-366. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2018.11.067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2018] [Revised: 11/05/2018] [Accepted: 11/28/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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26
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Basuki S, Fitriah, Risamasu PM, Kasmijati, Ariami P, Riyanto S, Hidayat A, Susilowati D, Iskandar, Armika B, Budiono, Dachlan YP, Kanbara H, Uemura H. Origins and spread of novel genetic variants of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine resistance in Plasmodium falciparum isolates in Indonesia. Malar J 2018; 17:475. [PMID: 30558597 PMCID: PMC6298019 DOI: 10.1186/s12936-018-2597-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2018] [Accepted: 11/24/2018] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Background While malaria incidence in Indonesia has decreased threefold in the last decade, more than 200,000 cases were reported in 2016. Different endemicity of Plasmodium falciparum malaria among several islands in Indonesia has been recognized and two unique mutations of P. falciparum dihydropteroate synthase (pfdhps) affecting sulfadoxine–pyrimethamine (SP) resistance were detected from the research of SP efficiency and genotype analysis in South Kalimantan. In this study, geographical distribution and origin of these pfdhps K540T and I588F mutations were analysed. Methods Malaria parasites DNA from several endemic areas in Indonesia; Sumatera, Java, Kalimantan, Lombok, Sumbawa, Timor, Sulawesi, and Papua islands; in two periods, 2004–2006 and 2009–2012 were subjected for pfdhfr and pfdhps sequence analysis. Results Different genotype polymorphisms of pfdhfr and pfdhps were observed in the parasites from various regions in Indonesia and relatively more divergent genotypes were determined from Kalimantan isolates in both 2004–2006 and 2009–2012. The parasites containing K540T mutation were identified in 2004–2006 isolates from East Kalimantan, East Java and Sumbawa as an SGTGA haplotype. The other I588F mutation was also determined in 2004–2006 parasites, isolated from Lombok and Sumbawa islands as an SGEAA(588F) haplotype. The parasites with pfdhfr/pfdhps quintuple or sextuple mutation, a genotype marker of SP resistance, were determined mostly in Kalimantan in both 2004–2006 and 2009–2012. Conclusion Analysis of the prevalence and pfdhfr/pfdhps combined genotypes of K540T or I588F mutations suggested that K540T might be origin in Kalimantan Island and I588F in Sumbawa Island and then these were spread to other areas along with people movement. This research indicates regular monitoring of drug efficacy and parasite genotype analysis is important to keep efficiency and prevent the spread of resistance. It is also essential for the latest anti-malarial drug artemisinin-based combination therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sukmawati Basuki
- Department of Medical Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia.,Malaria Study Group/Laboratory of Malaria, Institute of Tropical Disease, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia
| | - Fitriah
- Malaria Study Group/Laboratory of Malaria, Institute of Tropical Disease, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia
| | - Petronella M Risamasu
- Disease Control of Jayapura District Department of Health, Jayapura, Papua Province, Indonesia
| | - Kasmijati
- UPTD, Puskesmas Kuala Pembuang, Seruyan District, Middle Kalimantan Province, Indonesia
| | - Pancawati Ariami
- Poltekkes Mataram, Kota Mataram, Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia
| | - Sugeng Riyanto
- Banjar District Department of Health, Martapura, Banjar, South Kalimantan Province, Indonesia
| | - Ari Hidayat
- Arifin Achmad Hospital, Pekanbaru, Riau Province, Indonesia
| | - Dewi Susilowati
- Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Gorontalo, Biyonga, Limboto, Gorontalo Province, Indonesia
| | - Iskandar
- Puskesmas Utan Rhee, Utan Rhee sub-district, Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia
| | - Budi Armika
- West Nusa Tenggara Provincial Department of Health, Kota Mataram, Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia
| | - Budiono
- Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia
| | - Yoes P Dachlan
- Department of Medical Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia
| | - Hiroji Kanbara
- Department of Protozoology, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan
| | - Haruki Uemura
- Department of Protozoology, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.
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27
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Abbat S, Jaladanki CK, Bharatam PV. Exploring PfDHFR reaction surface: A combined molecular dynamics and QM/MM analysis. J Mol Graph Model 2018; 87:76-88. [PMID: 30508692 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2018.11.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2018] [Revised: 11/16/2018] [Accepted: 11/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The substrate to the enzyme PfDHFR (Plasmodium falciparum Dihydrofolate Reductase) is a small molecule dihydrofolate (DHF), it gets converted to tetrahydrofolate (THF) in the active site of the enzyme. The PfDHFR reaction surface involves the protonation of DHF to DHFP as an initial step before the catalytic conversion. The binding affinities of all these species (DHF, DHFP and THF) contribute to the mechanism of DHFR catalytic action. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and Quantum Mechanics/Molecular Mechanics (QM/MM) analysis were performed to evaluate the binding affinity and molecular recognition interactions of the substrate DHF/DHFP and the product THF, in the active site of wild-type PfDHFR (wtPfDHFR). The binding affinities of the cofactor NADPH/NADP+ were also estimated in all the three complexes. The molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the substrate, product and cofactor in the cavities of wtPfDHFR revealed the variation of the atomic level interactions during the course of the catalytic conversion. It was found that the DHFP binds very strongly to the PfDHFR active site and pulls the cofactor NADPH closer to itself. The QM/MM analysis revealed that the binding energy of DHFP (-59.82 kcal/mol) and NADPH (-100.24 kcal/mol) in DHFP-wtPfDHFR complex, is higher in comparison to the binding energy of DHF (-38.67 kcal/mol) and NADPH (-77.53 kcal/mol) in DHF-wtPfDHFR complex and the binding energy of THF (-30.72 kcal/mol) and NADP+ (-73.72 kcal/mol) in THF-wtPfDHFR complex. The hydride ion donor-acceptor distance (DAD) analysis was also carried out. This combined MD and QM/MM analysis revealed that the protonation of DHF increases the proximity between the substrate and the cofactor, thus facilitates the reaction profile of PfDHFR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheenu Abbat
- Department of Pharmacoinformatics, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Sector 67, S.A.S. Nagar, Punjab, 160 062, India
| | - Chaitanya K Jaladanki
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Sector 67, S.A.S. Nagar, Punjab, 160 062, India
| | - Prasad V Bharatam
- Department of Pharmacoinformatics, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Sector 67, S.A.S. Nagar, Punjab, 160 062, India; Department of Medicinal Chemistry, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Sector 67, S.A.S. Nagar, Punjab, 160 062, India.
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28
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Yogavel M, Nettleship JE, Sharma A, Harlos K, Jamwal A, Chaturvedi R, Sharma M, Jain V, Chhibber-Goel J, Sharma A. Structure of 6-hydroxymethyl-7,8-dihydropterin pyrophosphokinase-dihydropteroate synthase from Plasmodium vivax sheds light on drug resistance. J Biol Chem 2018; 293:14962-14972. [PMID: 30104413 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.ra118.004558] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2018] [Revised: 08/08/2018] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
The genomes of the malaria-causing Plasmodium parasites encode a protein fused of 6-hydroxymethyl-7,8-dihydropterin pyrophosphokinase (HPPK) and dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) domains that catalyze sequential reactions in the folate biosynthetic pathway. Whereas higher organisms derive folate from their diet and lack the enzymes for its synthesis, most eubacteria and a number of lower eukaryotes including malaria parasites synthesize tetrahydrofolate via DHPS. Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) and Plasmodium vivax (Pv) HPPK-DHPSs are currently targets of drugs like sulfadoxine (SDX). The SDX effectiveness as an antimalarial drug is increasingly diminished by the rise and spread of drug-resistant mutations. Here, we present the crystal structure of PvHPPK-DHPS in complex with four substrates/analogs, revealing the bifunctional PvHPPK-DHPS architecture in an unprecedented state of enzymatic activation. SDX's effect on HPPK-DHPS is due to 4-amino benzoic acid (pABA) mimicry, and the PvHPPK-DHPS structure sheds light on the SDX-binding cavity, as well as on mutations that effect SDX potency. We mapped five dominant drug resistance mutations in PvHPPK-DHPS: S382A, A383G, K512E/D, A553G, and V585A, most of which occur individually or in clusters proximal to the pABA-binding site. We found that these resistance mutations subtly alter the intricate enzyme/pABA/SDX interactions such that DHPS affinity for pABA is diminished only moderately, but its affinity for SDX is changed substantially. In conclusion, the PvHPPK-DHPS structure rationalizes and unravels the structural bases for SDX resistance mutations and highlights architectural features in HPPK-DHPSs from malaria parasites that can form the basis for developing next-generation anti-folate agents to combat malaria parasites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manickam Yogavel
- From the Molecular Medicine-Structural Parasitology Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi 110067, India,
| | - Joanne E Nettleship
- the Division of Structural Biology, Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, United Kingdom, and.,the Oxford Protein Production Facility, United Kingdom Research Complex at Harwell, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxford OX11 0FA, United Kingdom
| | - Akansha Sharma
- From the Molecular Medicine-Structural Parasitology Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi 110067, India
| | - Karl Harlos
- the Division of Structural Biology, Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, United Kingdom, and
| | - Abhishek Jamwal
- From the Molecular Medicine-Structural Parasitology Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi 110067, India
| | - Rini Chaturvedi
- From the Molecular Medicine-Structural Parasitology Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi 110067, India
| | - Manmohan Sharma
- From the Molecular Medicine-Structural Parasitology Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi 110067, India
| | - Vitul Jain
- the Division of Structural Biology, Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, United Kingdom, and
| | - Jyoti Chhibber-Goel
- From the Molecular Medicine-Structural Parasitology Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi 110067, India
| | - Amit Sharma
- From the Molecular Medicine-Structural Parasitology Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi 110067, India
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29
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Wale N, Sim DG, Read AF. A nutrient mediates intraspecific competition between rodent malaria parasites in vivo. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 284:rspb.2017.1067. [PMID: 28747479 PMCID: PMC5543226 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.1067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2017] [Accepted: 06/21/2017] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Hosts are often infected with multiple strains of a single parasite species. Within-host competition between parasite strains can be intense and has implications for the evolution of traits that impact patient health, such as drug resistance and virulence. Yet the mechanistic basis of within-host competition is poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that a parasite nutrient, para-aminobenzoic acid (pABA), mediates competition between a drug resistant and drug susceptible strain of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium chabaudi. We further show that increasing pABA supply to hosts infected with the resistant strain worsens disease and changes the relationship between parasite burden and pathology. Our experiments demonstrate that, even when there is profound top-down regulation (immunity), bottom-up regulation of pathogen populations can occur and that its importance may vary during an infection. The identification of resources that can be experimentally controlled opens up the opportunity to manipulate competitive interactions between parasites and hence their evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nina Wale
- Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics and Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
| | - Derek G Sim
- Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics and Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
| | - Andrew F Read
- Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics and Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.,Department of Entomology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
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30
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Gazanion E, Vergnes B. Protozoan Parasite Auxotrophies and Metabolic Dependencies. EXPERIENTIA SUPPLEMENTUM (2012) 2018; 109:351-375. [PMID: 30535605 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-74932-7_9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Diseases caused by protozoan parasites have a major impact on world health. These early branching eukaryotes cause significant morbidity and mortality in humans and livestock. During evolution, protozoan parasites have evolved toward complex life cycles in multiple host organisms with different nutritional resources. The conservation of functional metabolic pathways required for these successive environments is therefore a prerequisite for parasitic lifestyle. Nevertheless, parasitism drives genome evolution toward gene loss and metabolic dependencies (including strict auxotrophy), especially for obligatory intracellular parasites. In this chapter, we will compare and contrast how protozoan parasites have perfected this metabolic adaptation by focusing on specific auxotrophic pathways and scavenging strategies used by clinically relevant apicomplexan and trypanosomatid parasites to access host's nutritional resources. We will further see how these metabolic dependencies have in turn been exploited for therapeutic purposes against these human pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elodie Gazanion
- MIVEGEC, IRD, CNRS, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Baptiste Vergnes
- MIVEGEC, IRD, CNRS, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
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31
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Schwertz G, Frei MS, Witschel MC, Rottmann M, Leartsakulpanich U, Chitnumsub P, Jaruwat A, Ittarat W, Schäfer A, Aponte RA, Trapp N, Mark K, Chaiyen P, Diederich F. Conformational Aspects in the Design of Inhibitors for Serine Hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT): Biphenyl, Aryl Sulfonamide, and Aryl Sulfone Motifs. Chemistry 2017; 23:14345-14357. [DOI: 10.1002/chem.201703244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2017] [Revised: 08/15/2017] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Geoffrey Schwertz
- Laboratorium für Organische Chemie; ETH Zurich; Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 3 8093 Zurich Switzerland
| | - Michelle S. Frei
- Laboratorium für Organische Chemie; ETH Zurich; Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 3 8093 Zurich Switzerland
| | | | - Matthias Rottmann
- Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (SwissTPHI); Socinstrasse 57 4051 Basel Switzerland
- Universität Basel; Petersplatz 1 4003 Basel Switzerland
| | - Ubolsree Leartsakulpanich
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology; 113 Thailand Science Park, Phahonyothin Road Pathumthani 12120 Thailand
| | - Penchit Chitnumsub
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology; 113 Thailand Science Park, Phahonyothin Road Pathumthani 12120 Thailand
| | - Aritsara Jaruwat
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology; 113 Thailand Science Park, Phahonyothin Road Pathumthani 12120 Thailand
| | - Wanwipa Ittarat
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology; 113 Thailand Science Park, Phahonyothin Road Pathumthani 12120 Thailand
| | - Anja Schäfer
- Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (SwissTPHI); Socinstrasse 57 4051 Basel Switzerland
- Universität Basel; Petersplatz 1 4003 Basel Switzerland
| | | | - Nils Trapp
- Laboratorium für Organische Chemie; ETH Zurich; Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 3 8093 Zurich Switzerland
| | - Kerstin Mark
- Laboratorium für Organische Chemie; ETH Zurich; Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 3 8093 Zurich Switzerland
| | - Pimchai Chaiyen
- Department of Biochemistry and Center for Excellence in Protein and Enzyme Technology; Faculty of Science Mahidol University; 272 Rama VI Road Bangkok 10400 Thailand
- Department of Biomolecular Science and Engineering; School of Biomolecular Science & Engineering; Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology (VISTEC), Wangchan Valley; Rayong 21210 Thailand
| | - François Diederich
- Laboratorium für Organische Chemie; ETH Zurich; Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 3 8093 Zurich Switzerland
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32
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Angelastro A, Dawson WM, Luk LYP, Loveridge EJ, Allemann RK. Chemoenzymatic Assembly of Isotopically Labeled Folates. J Am Chem Soc 2017; 139:13047-13054. [PMID: 28820585 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b06358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Pterin-containing natural products have diverse functions in life, but an efficient and easy scheme for their in vitro synthesis is not available. Here we report a chemoenzymatic 14-step, one-pot synthesis that can be used to generate 13C- and 15N-labeled dihydrofolates (H2F) from glucose, guanine, and p-aminobenzoyl-l-glutamic acid. This synthesis stands out from previous approaches to produce H2F in that the average yield of each step is >91% and it requires only a single purification step. The use of a one-pot reaction allowed us to overcome potential problems with individual steps during the synthesis. The availability of labeled dihydrofolates allowed the measurement of heavy-atom isotope effects for the reaction catalyzed by the drug target dihydrofolate reductase and established that protonation at N5 of H2F and hydride transfer to C6 occur in a stepwise mechanism. This chemoenzymatic pterin synthesis can be applied to the efficient production of other folates and a range of other natural compounds with applications in nutritional, medical, and cell-biological research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Angelastro
- School of Chemistry, Cardiff University , Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT, United Kingdom
| | - William M Dawson
- School of Chemistry, Cardiff University , Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT, United Kingdom
| | - Louis Y P Luk
- School of Chemistry, Cardiff University , Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT, United Kingdom
| | - E Joel Loveridge
- School of Chemistry, Cardiff University , Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT, United Kingdom
| | - Rudolf K Allemann
- School of Chemistry, Cardiff University , Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT, United Kingdom
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33
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Roy KK. Targeting the active sites of malarial proteases for antimalarial drug discovery: approaches, progress and challenges. Int J Antimicrob Agents 2017; 50:287-302. [PMID: 28668681 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2017.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2016] [Revised: 04/12/2017] [Accepted: 04/27/2017] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Malaria is an infectious disease causing vast mortality and morbidity worldwide. Although antimalarial drugs are effective in several parts of the world, there is a serious threat to malaria control as malaria parasites are continuously developing widespread resistance against currently available antimalarial drugs, including artemisinin. Such widespread antimalarial drug resistance confirms the need to improve the efficacy of existing or new drugs as well as to develop alternative treatments through the identification of novel drug targets and the development of candidate drugs. Similar to proteases in other parasitic diseases such as leishmaniasis, schistosomiasis, Chagas disease and African sleeping sickness, malarial proteases constitute the major virulence factors in malaria. Malarial proteases belong to several classes and many of them have been targeted for the design and discovery of antimalarial agents. This review summarises the approaches, progress and challenges in the design of small-molecule inhibitors as antimalarial drugs targeting the inhibition of various malarial proteases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kuldeep K Roy
- National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), 4 Raja S.C. Mullick Road, Jadavpur, Kolkata 700032, West Bengal, India.
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34
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Schwertz G, Witschel MC, Rottmann M, Bonnert R, Leartsakulpanich U, Chitnumsub P, Jaruwat A, Ittarat W, Schäfer A, Aponte RA, Charman SA, White KL, Kundu A, Sadhukhan S, Lloyd M, Freiberg GM, Srikumaran M, Siggel M, Zwyssig A, Chaiyen P, Diederich F. Antimalarial Inhibitors Targeting Serine Hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT) with in Vivo Efficacy and Analysis of their Binding Mode Based on X-ray Cocrystal Structures. J Med Chem 2017; 60:4840-4860. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.7b00008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Geoffrey Schwertz
- Laboratorium für
Organische Chemie, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 3, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
| | | | - Matthias Rottmann
- Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (SwissTPH), Socinstrasse
57, 4051 Basel, Switzerland
- Universität Basel, Petersplatz 1, 4003 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Roger Bonnert
- Medicines for Malaria Venture, Route de Pré-Bois 20, CH-1215 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Ubolsree Leartsakulpanich
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, 113 Thailand Science Park, Phahonyothin Road, Pathumthni 12120, Thailand
| | - Penchit Chitnumsub
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, 113 Thailand Science Park, Phahonyothin Road, Pathumthni 12120, Thailand
| | - Aritsara Jaruwat
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, 113 Thailand Science Park, Phahonyothin Road, Pathumthni 12120, Thailand
| | - Wanwipa Ittarat
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, 113 Thailand Science Park, Phahonyothin Road, Pathumthni 12120, Thailand
| | - Anja Schäfer
- Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (SwissTPH), Socinstrasse
57, 4051 Basel, Switzerland
- Universität Basel, Petersplatz 1, 4003 Basel, Switzerland
| | | | - Susan A. Charman
- Centre for Drug Candidate Optimisation, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, 381 Royal Parade, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
| | - Karen L. White
- Centre for Drug Candidate Optimisation, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, 381 Royal Parade, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
| | - Abhijit Kundu
- TCG Lifesciences Private Limited, Block BN, Plot 7, Saltlake Electronics Complex, Sector V, Kolkata 700091, West Bengal India
| | - Surajit Sadhukhan
- TCG Lifesciences Private Limited, Block BN, Plot 7, Saltlake Electronics Complex, Sector V, Kolkata 700091, West Bengal India
| | - Mel Lloyd
- Covance Laboratories Ltd., Otley Road, Harrogate HG3 1PY, United Kingdom
| | - Gail M. Freiberg
- Molecular
Characterization, Department R4AE, AbbVie, 1 North Waukegan Road, North Chicago, Illinois 60064-6217, United States
| | - Myron Srikumaran
- Molecular
Characterization, Department R4AE, AbbVie, 1 North Waukegan Road, North Chicago, Illinois 60064-6217, United States
| | - Marc Siggel
- Laboratorium für
Organische Chemie, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 3, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Adrian Zwyssig
- Laboratorium für
Organische Chemie, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 3, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Pimchai Chaiyen
- Department of
Biochemistry and Center for Excellence in Protein and Enzyme Technology, Faculty of Science Mahidol University, 272 Rama VI Road, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
| | - François Diederich
- Laboratorium für
Organische Chemie, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 3, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
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35
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Abstract
Food fortified with folic acid has been available for consumption in North America for over a decade. This strategy has led to an increase in folate levels in the general population and, more importantly, a significant decrease in the incidence of neural tube defects. However, this increase in folate intake has been associated with a greater risk of cancer disease. Many African countries are now embracing this concept; however, because folate promotes malaria parasite division, as it does in cancer cells, there is a possibility of malaria exacerbation if folate intake is increased. A precedent for such a concern is the now compelling evidence showing that an increase in iron intake can lead to a higher malaria risk; as a result, mass administration of iron in malaria-endemic areas is not recommended. In this article, we review work on the effect of folate on malaria parasites. Although this topic has received little research attention, the available data suggest that the increase in folate concentration could be associated with an increase in malaria infection. Thus, the introduction of food fortification with folic acid in malaria-endemic areas should be attended by precautionary programs to monitor the risk of malaria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexis Nzila
- Department of Life Sciences, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
| | - John Okombo
- University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - John Hyde
- Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB), Manchester, United Kingdom
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36
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Rijpma SR, van der Velden M, Bilos A, Jansen RS, Mahakena S, Russel FGM, Sauerwein RW, van de Wetering K, Koenderink JB. MRP1 mediates folate transport and antifolate sensitivity in Plasmodium falciparum. FEBS Lett 2016; 590:482-92. [PMID: 26900081 DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.12079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2015] [Revised: 01/12/2016] [Accepted: 01/18/2016] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Multidrug resistance-associated proteins (MRP) of Plasmodium falciparum have been associated with altered drug sensitivity. Knowledge on MRP substrate specificity is indispensible for the characterization of resistance mechanisms and identifying its physiological roles. An untargeted metabolomics approach detected decreased folate concentrations in red blood cells infected with schizont stage parasites lacking expression of MRP1. Furthermore, a tenfold decrease in sensitivity toward the folate analog methotrexate was detected for parasites lacking MRP1. PfMRP1 is involved in the export of folate from parasites into red blood cells and is therefore a relevant factor for efficient malaria treatment through the folate pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanna R Rijpma
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Maarten van der Velden
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Albert Bilos
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Robert S Jansen
- Division of Molecular Oncology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Sunny Mahakena
- Division of Molecular Oncology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Frans G M Russel
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Robert W Sauerwein
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Koen van de Wetering
- Division of Molecular Oncology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Jan B Koenderink
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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37
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Salcedo-Sora JE, Mc Auley MT. A mathematical model of microbial folate biosynthesis and utilisation: implications for antifolate development. MOLECULAR BIOSYSTEMS 2016; 12:923-33. [PMID: 26794619 DOI: 10.1039/c5mb00801h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
The metabolic biochemistry of folate biosynthesis and utilisation has evolved into a complex network of reactions. Although this complexity represents challenges to the field of folate research it has also provided a renewed source for antimetabolite targets. A range of improved folate chemotherapy continues to be developed and applied particularly to cancer and chronic inflammatory diseases. However, new or better antifolates against infectious diseases remain much more elusive. In this paper we describe the assembly of a generic deterministic mathematical model of microbial folate metabolism. Our aim is to explore how a mathematical model could be used to explore the dynamics of this inherently complex set of biochemical reactions. Using the model it was found that: (1) a particular small set of folate intermediates are overrepresented, (2) inhibitory profiles can be quantified by the level of key folate products, (3) using the model to scan for the most effective combinatorial inhibitions of folate enzymes we identified specific targets which could complement current antifolates, and (4) the model substantiates the case for a substrate cycle in the folinic acid biosynthesis reaction. Our model is coded in the systems biology markup language and has been deposited in the BioModels Database (MODEL1511020000), this makes it accessible to the community as a whole.
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38
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Discovery of Dual-Stage Malaria Inhibitors with New Targets. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2015; 60:1430-7. [PMID: 26666931 DOI: 10.1128/aac.02110-15] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2015] [Accepted: 12/08/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Malaria remains a major global health problem, with more than half of the world population at risk of contracting the disease and nearly a million deaths each year. Here, we report the discovery of inhibitors that target multiple stages of malaria parasite growth. To identify these inhibitors, we took advantage of the Tres Cantos Antimalarial Compound Set (TCAMS) small-molecule library, which is comprised of diverse and potent chemical scaffolds with activities against the blood stage of the malaria parasite, and investigated their effects against the elusive liver stage of the malaria parasite using a forward chemical screen. From a screen of nearly 14,000 compounds, we identified and confirmed 103 compounds as dual-stage malaria inhibitors. Interestingly, these compounds show preferential inhibition of parasite growth in liver- versus blood-stage malaria parasite assays, highlighting the drug susceptibility of this parasite form. Mode-of-action studies were completed using genetically modified and drug-resistant Plasmodium parasite strains. While we identified some compound targets as classical antimalarial pathways, such as the mitochondrial electron transport chain through cytochrome bc1 complex inhibition or the folate biosynthesis pathway, most compounds induced parasite death through as yet unknown mechanisms of action. Importantly, the identification of new chemotypes with different modes of action in killing Plasmodium parasites represents a promising opportunity for probing essential and novel molecular processes that remain to be discovered. The chemical scaffolds identified with activity against drug-resistant Plasmodium parasites represent starting points for dual-stage antimalarial development to surmount the threat of malaria parasite drug resistance.
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Meadows DN, Bahous RH, Best AF, Rozen R. High Dietary Folate in Mice Alters Immune Response and Reduces Survival after Malarial Infection. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0143738. [PMID: 26599510 PMCID: PMC4658061 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2015] [Accepted: 11/09/2015] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Malaria is a significant global health issue, with nearly 200 million cases in 2013 alone. Parasites obtain folate from the host or synthesize it de novo. Folate consumption has increased in many populations, prompting concerns regarding potential deleterious consequences of higher intake. The impact of high dietary folate on the host’s immune function and response to malaria has not been examined. Our goal was to determine whether high dietary folate would affect response to malarial infection in a murine model of cerebral malaria. Mice were fed control diets (CD, recommended folate level for rodents) or folic acid-supplemented diets (FASD, 10x recommended level) for 5 weeks before infection with Plasmodium berghei ANKA. Survival, parasitemia, numbers of immune cells and other infection parameters were assessed. FASD mice had reduced survival (p<0.01, Cox proportional hazards) and higher parasitemia (p< 0.01, joint model of parasitemia and survival) compared with CD mice. FASD mice had lower numbers of splenocytes, total T cells, and lower numbers of specific T and NK cell sub-populations, compared with CD mice (p<0.05, linear mixed effects). Increased brain TNFα immunoreactive protein (p<0.01, t-test) and increased liver Abca1 mRNA (p<0.01, t-test), a modulator of TNFα, were observed in FASD mice; these variables correlated positively (rs = 0.63, p = 0.01). Bcl-xl/Bak mRNA was increased in liver of FASD mice (p<0.01, t-test), suggesting reduced apoptotic potential. We conclude that high dietary folate increases parasite replication, disturbs the immune response and reduces resistance to malaria in mice. These findings have relevance for malaria-endemic regions, when considering anti-folate anti-malarials, food fortification or vitamin supplementation programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danielle N. Meadows
- Department of Human Genetics, McGill University, McGill University Health Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Renata H. Bahous
- Department of Human Genetics, McGill University, McGill University Health Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Ana F. Best
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Rima Rozen
- Department of Human Genetics, McGill University, McGill University Health Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Department of Pediatrics, McGill University, McGill University Health Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- * E-mail:
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Heinberg A, Kirkman L. The molecular basis of antifolate resistance in Plasmodium falciparum: looking beyond point mutations. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2015; 1342:10-8. [PMID: 25694157 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.12662] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Drugs that target the folate-synthesis pathway have a long history of effectiveness against a variety of pathogens. As antimalarials, the antifolates were safe and well tolerated, but resistance emerged quickly and has persisted even with decreased drug pressure. The primary determinants of resistance in Plasmodium falciparum are well-described point mutations in the enzymes dihydropteroate synthase and dihydrofolate reductase targeted by the combination sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine. Recent work has highlighted the contributions of additional parasite adaptation to antifolate resistance. In fact, the evolution of antifolate-resistant parasites is multifaceted and complex. Gene amplification of the first enzyme in the parasite folate synthesis pathway, GTP-cyclohydrolase, is strongly associated with resistant parasites and potentially contributes to persistence of resistant parasites. Further understanding of how parasites adjust flux through the folate pathway is important to the further development of alternative agents targeting this crucial synthesis pathway.
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Functional characterization of the Pneumocystis jirovecii potential drug targets dhfs and abz2 involved in folate biosynthesis. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2015; 59:2560-6. [PMID: 25691634 DOI: 10.1128/aac.05092-14] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2014] [Accepted: 02/07/2015] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Pneumocystis species are fungal parasites colonizing mammal lungs with strict host specificity. Pneumocystis jirovecii is the human-specific species and can turn into an opportunistic pathogen causing severe pneumonia in immunocompromised individuals. This disease is currently the second most frequent life-threatening invasive fungal infection worldwide. The most efficient drug, cotrimoxazole, presents serious side effects, and resistance to this drug is emerging. The search for new targets for the development of new drugs is thus of utmost importance. The recent release of the P. jirovecii genome sequence opens a new era for this task. It can now be carried out on the actual targets to be inhibited instead of on those of the relatively distant model Pneumocystis carinii, the species infecting rats. We focused on the folic acid biosynthesis pathway because (i) it is widely used for efficient therapeutic intervention, and (ii) it involves several enzymes that are essential for the pathogen and have no human counterparts. In this study, we report the identification of two such potential targets within the genome of P. jirovecii, the dihydrofolate synthase (dhfs) and the aminodeoxychorismate lyase (abz2). The function of these enzymes was demonstrated by the rescue of the null allele of the orthologous gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
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Kaiser M, Maes L, Tadoori LP, Spangenberg T, Ioset JR. Repurposing of the Open Access Malaria Box for Kinetoplastid Diseases Identifies Novel Active Scaffolds against Trypanosomatids. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015; 20:634-45. [PMID: 25690568 DOI: 10.1177/1087057115569155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2014] [Accepted: 01/02/2015] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Phenotypic screening had successfully been used for hit generation, especially in the field of neglected diseases, in which feeding the drug pipeline with new chemotypes remains a constant challenge. Here, we catalyze drug discovery research using a publicly available screening tool to boost drug discovery. The Malaria Box, assembled by the Medicines for Malaria Venture, is a structurally diverse set of 200 druglike and 200 probelike compounds distilled from more than 20,000 antimalarial hits from corporate and academic libraries. Repurposing such compounds has already identified new scaffolds against cryptosporidiosis and schistosomiasis. In addition to initiating new hit-to-lead activities, screening the Malaria Box against a plethora of other parasites would enable the community to better understand the similarities and differences between them. We describe the screening of the Malaria Box and triaging of the identified hits against kinetoplastids responsible for human African trypanosomiasis (Trypanosoma brucei), Chagas disease (Trypanosoma cruzi), and visceral leishmaniasis (Leishmania donovani and Leishmania infantum). The in vitro and in vivo profiling of the most promising active compounds with respect to efficacy, toxicity, pharmacokinetics, and complementary druggable properties are presented and a collaborative model used as a way to accelerate the discovery process discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcel Kaiser
- Parasite Chemotherapy, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Louis Maes
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Parasitology and Hygiene, Faculty of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences, Antwerp University, Antwerp, Belgium
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Chitnumsub P, Jaruwat A, Riangrungroj P, Ittarat W, Noytanom K, Oonanant W, Vanichthanankul J, Chuankhayan P, Maenpuen S, Chen CJ, Chaiyen P, Yuthavong Y, Leartsakulpanich U. Structures of Plasmodium vivax serine hydroxymethyltransferase: implications for ligand-binding specificity and functional control. ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA. SECTION D, BIOLOGICAL CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 2014; 70:3177-86. [PMID: 25478836 PMCID: PMC4257618 DOI: 10.1107/s1399004714023128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2014] [Accepted: 10/20/2014] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Plasmodium parasites, the causative agent of malaria, rely heavily on de novo folate biosynthesis, and the enzymes in this pathway have therefore been explored extensively for antimalarial development. Serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT) from Plasmodium spp., an enzyme involved in folate recycling and dTMP synthesis, has been shown to catalyze the conversion of L- and D-serine to glycine (Gly) in a THF-dependent reaction, the mechanism of which is not yet fully understood. Here, the crystal structures of P. vivax SHMT (PvSHMT) in a binary complex with L-serine and in a ternary complex with D-serine (D-Ser) and (6R)-5-formyltetrahydrofolate (5FTHF) provide clues to the mechanism underlying the control of enzyme activity. 5FTHF in the ternary-complex structure was found in the 6R form, thus differing from the previously reported structures of SHMT-Gly-(6S)-5FTHF from other organisms. This suggested that the presence of D-Ser in the active site can alter the folate-binding specificity. Investigation of binding in the presence of D-Ser and the (6R)- or (6S)-5FTHF enantiomers indicated that both forms of 5FTHF can bind to the enzyme but that only (6S)-5FTHF gives rise to a quinonoid intermediate. Likewise, a large surface area with a highly positively charged electrostatic potential surrounding the PvSHMT folate pocket suggested a preference for a polyglutamated folate substrate similar to the mammalian SHMTs. Furthermore, as in P. falciparum SHMT, a redox switch created from a cysteine pair (Cys125-Cys364) was observed. Overall, these results assert the importance of features such as stereoselectivity and redox status for control of the activity and specificity of PvSHMT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Penchit Chitnumsub
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), 113 Thailand Science Park, Phahonyothin Road, Klong Nueng, Klong Luang, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
| | - Aritsara Jaruwat
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), 113 Thailand Science Park, Phahonyothin Road, Klong Nueng, Klong Luang, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
| | - Pinpunya Riangrungroj
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), 113 Thailand Science Park, Phahonyothin Road, Klong Nueng, Klong Luang, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
| | - Wanwipa Ittarat
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), 113 Thailand Science Park, Phahonyothin Road, Klong Nueng, Klong Luang, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
| | - Krittikar Noytanom
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), 113 Thailand Science Park, Phahonyothin Road, Klong Nueng, Klong Luang, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
| | - Worrapoj Oonanant
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), 113 Thailand Science Park, Phahonyothin Road, Klong Nueng, Klong Luang, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
| | - Jarunee Vanichthanankul
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), 113 Thailand Science Park, Phahonyothin Road, Klong Nueng, Klong Luang, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
| | - Phimonphan Chuankhayan
- Life Science Group, Scientific Research Division, National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Hsinchu 30076, Taiwan
| | - Somchart Maenpuen
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Burapha University, Chonburi 20131, Thailand
| | - Chun-Jung Chen
- Life Science Group, Scientific Research Division, National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Hsinchu 30076, Taiwan
| | - Pimchai Chaiyen
- Department of Biochemistry and Center for Excellence in Protein Structure and Function, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
| | - Yongyuth Yuthavong
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), 113 Thailand Science Park, Phahonyothin Road, Klong Nueng, Klong Luang, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
| | - Ubolsree Leartsakulpanich
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), 113 Thailand Science Park, Phahonyothin Road, Klong Nueng, Klong Luang, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
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Plasmodium berghei glycine cleavage system T-protein is non-essential for parasite survival in vertebrate and invertebrate hosts. Mol Biochem Parasitol 2014; 197:50-5. [PMID: 25454081 DOI: 10.1016/j.molbiopara.2014.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2014] [Revised: 10/13/2014] [Accepted: 10/14/2014] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
T-protein, an aminomethyltransferase, represents one of the four components of glycine cleavage system (GCS) and catalyzes the transfer of methylene group from H-protein intermediate to tetrahydrofolate (THF) forming N(5), N(10)-methylene THF (CH2-THF) with the release of ammonia. The malaria parasite genome encodes T-, H- and L-proteins, but not P-protein which is a glycine decarboxylase generating the aminomethylene group. A putative GCS has been considered to be functional in the parasite mitochondrion despite the absence of a detectable P-protein homologue. In the present study, the mitochondrial localization of T-protein in the malaria parasite was confirmed by immunofluorescence and its essentiality in the entire parasite life cycle was studied by targeting the T-protein locus in Plasmodium berghei (Pb). PbT knock out parasites did not show any growth defect in asexual, sexual and liver stages indicating that the T-protein is dispensable for parasite survival in vertebrate and invertebrate hosts. The absence of P-protein homologue and the non-essentiality of T protein suggest the possible redundancy of GCS activity in the malaria parasite. Nevertheless, the H- and L-proteins of GCS could be essential for malaria parasite because of their involvement in α-ketoacid dehydrogenase reactions.
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Chitnumsub P, Ittarat W, Jaruwat A, Noytanom K, Amornwatcharapong W, Pornthanakasem W, Chaiyen P, Yuthavong Y, Leartsakulpanich U. The structure of Plasmodium falciparum serine hydroxymethyltransferase reveals a novel redox switch that regulates its activities. ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA. SECTION D, BIOLOGICAL CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 2014; 70:1517-27. [PMID: 24914963 PMCID: PMC4051499 DOI: 10.1107/s1399004714005598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2013] [Accepted: 03/11/2014] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Plasmodium falciparum serine hydroxymethyltransferase (PfSHMT), an enzyme in the dTMP synthesis cycle, is an antimalarial target because inhibition of its expression or function has been shown to be lethal to the parasite. As the wild-type enzyme could not be crystallized, protein engineering of residues on the surface was carried out. The surface-engineered mutant PfSHMT-F292E was successfully crystallized and its structure was determined at 3 Å resolution. The PfSHMT-F292E structure is a good representation of PfSHMT as this variant revealed biochemical properties similar to those of the wild type. Although the overall structure of PfSHMT is similar to those of other SHMTs, unique features including the presence of two loops and a distinctive cysteine pair formed by Cys125 and Cys364 in the tetrahydrofolate (THF) substrate binding pocket were identified. These structural characteristics have never been reported in other SHMTs. Biochemical characterization and mutation analysis of these two residues confirm that they act as a disulfide/sulfhydryl switch to regulate the THF-dependent catalytic function of the enzyme. This redox switch is not present in the human enzyme, in which the cysteine pair is absent. The data reported here can be further exploited as a new strategy to specifically disrupt the activity of the parasite enzyme without interfering with the function of the human enzyme.
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Affiliation(s)
- Penchit Chitnumsub
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, 113 Thailand Science Park, Paholyothin Road, Klong 1, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand
| | - Wanwipa Ittarat
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, 113 Thailand Science Park, Paholyothin Road, Klong 1, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand
| | - Aritsara Jaruwat
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, 113 Thailand Science Park, Paholyothin Road, Klong 1, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand
| | - Krittikar Noytanom
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, 113 Thailand Science Park, Paholyothin Road, Klong 1, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand
| | - Watcharee Amornwatcharapong
- Department of Biochemistry and Center for Excellence in Protein Structure and Function, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Wichai Pornthanakasem
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, 113 Thailand Science Park, Paholyothin Road, Klong 1, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand
| | - Pimchai Chaiyen
- Department of Biochemistry and Center for Excellence in Protein Structure and Function, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Yongyuth Yuthavong
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, 113 Thailand Science Park, Paholyothin Road, Klong 1, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand
| | - Ubolsree Leartsakulpanich
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, 113 Thailand Science Park, Paholyothin Road, Klong 1, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand
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Pinthong C, Maenpuen S, Amornwatcharapong W, Yuthavong Y, Leartsakulpanich U, Chaiyen P. Distinct biochemical properties of human serine hydroxymethyltransferase compared with thePlasmodiumenzyme: implications for selective inhibition. FEBS J 2014; 281:2570-83. [DOI: 10.1111/febs.12803] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2013] [Revised: 03/25/2014] [Accepted: 03/31/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Chatchadaporn Pinthong
- Department of Biochemistry and Center of Excellence in Protein Structure and Function; Mahidol University; Bangkok Thailand
| | | | - Watcharee Amornwatcharapong
- Department of Biochemistry and Center of Excellence in Protein Structure and Function; Mahidol University; Bangkok Thailand
| | - Yongyuth Yuthavong
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology; National Science and Technology Development Agency; Pathumthani Thailand
| | - Ubolsree Leartsakulpanich
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology; National Science and Technology Development Agency; Pathumthani Thailand
| | - Pimchai Chaiyen
- Department of Biochemistry and Center of Excellence in Protein Structure and Function; Mahidol University; Bangkok Thailand
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Biochemical and functional characterization of Plasmodium falciparum GTP cyclohydrolase I. Malar J 2014; 13:150. [PMID: 24745605 PMCID: PMC4005822 DOI: 10.1186/1475-2875-13-150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2013] [Accepted: 12/17/2013] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Antifolates are currently in clinical use for malaria preventive therapy and treatment. The drugs kill the parasites by targeting the enzymes in the de novo folate pathway. The use of antifolates has now been limited by the spread of drug-resistant mutations. GTP cyclohydrolase I (GCH1) is the first and the rate-limiting enzyme in the folate pathway. The amplification of the gch1 gene found in certain Plasmodium falciparum isolates can cause antifolate resistance and influence the course of antifolate resistance evolution. These findings showed the importance of P. falciparum GCH1 in drug resistance intervention. However, little is known about P. falciparum GCH1 in terms of kinetic parameters and functional assays, precluding the opportunity to obtain the key information on its catalytic reaction and to eventually develop this enzyme as a drug target. Methods Plasmodium falciparum GCH1 was cloned and expressed in bacteria. Enzymatic activity was determined by the measurement of fluorescent converted neopterin with assay validation by using mutant and GTP analogue. The genetic complementation study was performed in ∆folE bacteria to functionally identify the residues and domains of P. falciparum GCH1 required for its enzymatic activity. Plasmodial GCH1 sequences were aligned and structurally modeled to reveal conserved catalytic residues. Results Kinetic parameters and optimal conditions for enzymatic reactions were determined by the fluorescence-based assay. The inhibitor test against P. falciparum GCH1 is now possible as indicated by the inhibitory effect by 8-oxo-GTP. Genetic complementation was proven to be a convenient method to study the function of P. falciparum GCH1. A series of domain truncations revealed that the conserved core domain of GCH1 is responsible for its enzymatic activity. Homology modelling fits P. falciparum GCH1 into the classic Tunnelling-fold structure with well-conserved catalytic residues at the active site. Conclusions Functional assays for P. falciparum GCH1 based on enzymatic activity and genetic complementation were successfully developed. The assays in combination with a homology model characterized the enzymatic activity of P. falciparum GCH1 and the importance of its key amino acid residues. The potential to use the assay for inhibitor screening was validated by 8-oxo-GTP, a known GTP analogue inhibitor.
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Completing the folate biosynthesis pathway in Plasmodium falciparum: p-aminobenzoate is produced by a highly divergent promiscuous aminodeoxychorismate lyase. Biochem J 2013; 455:149-55. [DOI: 10.1042/bj20130896] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
We identified the aminodeoxychorismate lyase from Plasmodium falciparum. This enzyme participates in the biosynthesis of folate and could be a new target for antimalarial therapy. The enzyme has little similarity to its bacterial counterparts and shows a minor D-amino acid transaminase activity.
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