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Nascimento IJDS, Cavalcanti MDAT, de Moura RO. Exploring N-myristoyltransferase as a promising drug target against parasitic neglected tropical diseases. Eur J Med Chem 2023; 258:115550. [PMID: 37336067 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.115550] [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: 05/15/2023] [Revised: 06/04/2023] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/21/2023]
Abstract
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) constitute a group of approximately 20 infectious diseases that mainly affect the impoverished population without basic sanitation in tropical countries. These diseases are responsible for many deaths worldwide, costing billions of dollars in public health investment to treat and control these infections. Among them are the diseases caused by protozoa of the Trypanosomatid family, which constitute Trypanosoma cruzi (Chagas disease), Trypanosoma brucei (sleeping sickness), and Leishmaniasis. In addition, there is a classification of other diseases, called the big three, AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, which are endemic in countries with tropical conditions. Despite the high mortality rates, there is still a gap in the treatment. The drugs have a high incidence of side effects and protozoan resistance, justifying the investment in developing new alternatives. In fact, the Target-Based Drug Design (TBDD) approach is responsible for identifying several promising compounds, and among the targets explored through this approach, N-myristoyltransferase (NMT) stands out. It is an enzyme related to the co-translational myristoylation of N-terminal glycine in various peptides. The myristoylation process is a co-translation that occurs after removing the initiator methionine. This process regulates the assembly of protein complexes and stability, which justifies its potential as a drug target. In order to propose NMT as a potential target for parasitic diseases, this review will address the entire structure and function of this enzyme and the primary studies demonstrating its promising potential against Leishmaniasis, T. cruzi, T. brucei, and malaria. We hope our information can help researchers worldwide search for potential drugs against these diseases that have been threatening the health of the world's population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Igor José Dos Santos Nascimento
- Postgraduate Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences, State University of Paraíba, Campina Grande, 58429-500, Brazil; Cesmac University Center, Pharmacy Departament, Maceió, Brazil; Drug Development and Synthesis Laboratory, Department of Pharmacy, State University of Paraíba, Campina Grande, 58429-500, Brazil.
| | - Misael de Azevedo Teotônio Cavalcanti
- Postgraduate Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences, State University of Paraíba, Campina Grande, 58429-500, Brazil; Drug Development and Synthesis Laboratory, Department of Pharmacy, State University of Paraíba, Campina Grande, 58429-500, Brazil
| | - Ricardo Olimpio de Moura
- Postgraduate Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences, State University of Paraíba, Campina Grande, 58429-500, Brazil; Drug Development and Synthesis Laboratory, Department of Pharmacy, State University of Paraíba, Campina Grande, 58429-500, Brazil
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2
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Pyne N, Paul S. Screening of medicinal plants unraveled the leishmanicidal credibility of Garcinia cowa; highlighting Norcowanin, a novel anti-leishmanial phytochemical through in-silico study. J Parasit Dis 2022; 46:202-214. [PMID: 35299910 PMCID: PMC8901847 DOI: 10.1007/s12639-021-01441-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2021] [Accepted: 08/07/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Leishmaniasis, one of the most prevalent yet neglected parasitic causes of death, yearns for therapeutic control and treatment. Severely toxic and inefficient modern-day pentavalent antimonials, caters the search for naturally derived drugs, as efficient alternatives for disease treatment. The anti-promastigote activity of ten different plants selected for their ethnomedicinal properties revealed significant leishmanicidal capacity; the most potent being Garcinia cowa methanolic extract with an IC50 value of 21.4 µg/ml. Garcinia cowa, a plant endemic to North-Eastern India that is of the Clusiaceae family, is replete with such medicinal qualities as antimicrobial, antiviral, antiparasitic, and antiproliferative activities. Computational biology with its tools such as molecular docking has opened new horizons aimed at a better understanding of biological systems, complexes, and their interactions, and subsequently drug discovery via in silico techniques. Therefore, an in-silico study was designed to evaluate the binding capability of six phytochemicals- cowanin, cowanol, cowaxanthone, norcowanin, rubraxanthone, and a basic xanthone, found in Garcinia cowa against Pentamidine, a synthetic anti-leishmanial drug. The active sites of three characteristic enzymes belonging to the Leishmania donovani parasite: O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase (OASS), Trypanothione reductase (TryR), and N-Myristoyltransferase (NMT) were chosen as target proteins. Results revealed lower binding energies and higher affinities, of nearly all the phytochemicals with respect to Pentamidine, indicating their leishmanicidal potential. Norcowanin showed the lowest average binding of - 9.8 kcal/mol against all the three enzymes under study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nibedita Pyne
- Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology, Department of Botany, Centre of Advanced Study, University of Calcutta, 35 Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata, 700019 India
| | - Santanu Paul
- Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology, Department of Botany, Centre of Advanced Study, University of Calcutta, 35 Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata, 700019 India
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3
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Morales JF, Chuguransky S, Alberca LN, Alice JI, Goicoechea S, Ruiz ME, Bellera CL, Talevi A. Positive Predictive Value Surfaces as a Complementary Tool to Assess the Performance of Virtual Screening Methods. Mini Rev Med Chem 2021; 20:1447-1460. [PMID: 32072906 DOI: 10.2174/1871525718666200219130229] [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: 09/11/2019] [Revised: 10/28/2019] [Accepted: 10/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Since their introduction in the virtual screening field, Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve-derived metrics have been widely used for benchmarking of computational methods and algorithms intended for virtual screening applications. Whereas in classification problems, the ratio between sensitivity and specificity for a given score value is very informative, a practical concern in virtual screening campaigns is to predict the actual probability that a predicted hit will prove truly active when submitted to experimental testing (in other words, the Positive Predictive Value - PPV). Estimation of such probability is however, obstructed due to its dependency on the yield of actives of the screened library, which cannot be known a priori. OBJECTIVE To explore the use of PPV surfaces derived from simulated ranking experiments (retrospective virtual screening) as a complementary tool to ROC curves, for both benchmarking and optimization of score cutoff values. METHODS The utility of the proposed approach is assessed in retrospective virtual screening experiments with four datasets used to infer QSAR classifiers: inhibitors of Trypanosoma cruzi trypanothione synthetase; inhibitors of Trypanosoma brucei N-myristoyltransferase; inhibitors of GABA transaminase and anticonvulsant activity in the 6 Hz seizure model. RESULTS Besides illustrating the utility of PPV surfaces to compare the performance of machine learning models for virtual screening applications and to select an adequate score threshold, our results also suggest that ensemble learning provides models with better predictivity and more robust behavior. CONCLUSION PPV surfaces are valuable tools to assess virtual screening tools and choose score thresholds to be applied in prospective in silico screens. Ensemble learning approaches seem to consistently lead to improved predictivity and robustness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan F Morales
- Laboratory of Bioactive Research and Development (LIDeB), Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Exact Sciences, University of La Plata (UNLP) - 47 & 115, La Plata (1900), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Sara Chuguransky
- Laboratory of Bioactive Research and Development (LIDeB), Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Exact Sciences, University of La Plata (UNLP) - 47 & 115, La Plata (1900), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Lucas N Alberca
- Laboratory of Bioactive Research and Development (LIDeB), Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Exact Sciences, University of La Plata (UNLP) - 47 & 115, La Plata (1900), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Juan I Alice
- Laboratory of Bioactive Research and Development (LIDeB), Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Exact Sciences, University of La Plata (UNLP) - 47 & 115, La Plata (1900), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Sofía Goicoechea
- Laboratory of Bioactive Research and Development (LIDeB), Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Exact Sciences, University of La Plata (UNLP) - 47 & 115, La Plata (1900), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - María E Ruiz
- Laboratory of Bioactive Research and Development (LIDeB), Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Exact Sciences, University of La Plata (UNLP) - 47 & 115, La Plata (1900), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Carolina L Bellera
- Laboratory of Bioactive Research and Development (LIDeB), Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Exact Sciences, University of La Plata (UNLP) - 47 & 115, La Plata (1900), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Alan Talevi
- Laboratory of Bioactive Research and Development (LIDeB), Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Exact Sciences, University of La Plata (UNLP) - 47 & 115, La Plata (1900), Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Nechaev AA, Jagtap PR, BaŽíková E, Neumannová J, Císařová I, Matoušová E. Synthesis of fused 1,2-naphthoquinones with cytotoxic activity using a one-pot three-step reaction. Org Biomol Chem 2021; 19:3434-3440. [PMID: 33899892 DOI: 10.1039/d1ob00205h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
A method for the synthesis of fused 1,2-naphthoquinones, as analogues of biologically active natural terpene quinones, is described. The intermediate polycyclic naphthalenes were prepared by a one-pot palladium-catalysed process from simple alkynes, one of which was made from an optically pure biomass-derived levoglucosenone. The prepared methoxy-substituted naphthalenes were subsequently transformed in one step to 1,2-naphthoquinones by a trivalent-iodine-mediated oxidation. The naphthoquinone products were found to have cytotoxic properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anton A Nechaev
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Hlavova 8, 128 00 Praha 2, Czech Republic.
| | - Pratap R Jagtap
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Hlavova 8, 128 00 Praha 2, Czech Republic.
| | - Ema BaŽíková
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Hlavova 8, 128 00 Praha 2, Czech Republic.
| | - Johana Neumannová
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Hlavova 8, 128 00 Praha 2, Czech Republic.
| | - Ivana Císařová
- Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Hlavova 8, 128 00 Praha 2, Czech Republic
| | - Eliška Matoušová
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Hlavova 8, 128 00 Praha 2, Czech Republic.
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5
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Garcia ML, de Oliveira AA, Bueno RV, Nogueira VHR, de Souza GE, Guido RVC. QSAR studies on benzothiophene derivatives as Plasmodium falciparum N-myristoyltransferase inhibitors: Molecular insights into affinity and selectivity. Drug Dev Res 2020; 83:264-284. [PMID: 32045013 DOI: 10.1002/ddr.21646] [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] [Received: 09/20/2019] [Revised: 12/16/2019] [Accepted: 01/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Malaria is an infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium and transmitted by Anopheles spp. mosquitos. Due to the emerging resistance to currently available drugs, great efforts must be invested in discovering new molecular targets and drugs. N-myristoyltransferase (NMT) is an essential enzyme to parasites and has been validated as a chemically tractable target for the discovery of new drug candidates against malaria. In this work, 2D and 3D quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) studies were conducted on a series of benzothiophene derivatives as P. falciparum NMT (PfNMT) and human NMT (HsNMT) inhibitors to shed light on the molecular requirements for inhibitor affinity and selectivity. A combination of Quantitative Structure-activity Relationship (QSAR) methods, including the hologram quantitative structure-activity relationship (HQSAR), comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA), and comparative molecular similarity index analysis (CoMSIA) models, were used, and the impacts of the molecular alignment strategies (maximum common substructure and flexible ligand alignment) and atomic partial charge methods (Gasteiger-Hückel, MMFF94, AM1-BCC, CHELPG, and Mulliken) on the quality and reliability of the models were assessed. The best models exhibited internal consistency and could reasonably predict the inhibitory activity against both PfNMT (HQSAR: q2 /r2 /r2 pred = 0.83/0.98/0.81; CoMFA: q2 /r2 /r2 pred = 0.78/0.97/0.86; CoMSIA: q2 /r2 /r2 pred = 0.74/0.95/0.82) and HsNMT (HQSAR: q2 /r2 /r2 pred = 0.79/0.93/0.74; CoMFA: q2 /r2 /r2 pred = 0.82/0.98/0.60; CoMSIA: q2 /r2 /r2 pred = 0.62/0.95/0.56). The results enabled the identification of the polar interactions (electrostatic and hydrogen-bonding properties) as the major molecular features that affected the inhibitory activity and selectivity. These findings should be useful for the design of PfNMT inhibitors with high affinities and selectivities as antimalarial lead candidates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariana L Garcia
- Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, University of Sao Paulo, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Andrew A de Oliveira
- Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, University of Sao Paulo, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Renata V Bueno
- Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, University of Sao Paulo, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Victor H R Nogueira
- Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, University of Sao Paulo, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Guilherme E de Souza
- Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, University of Sao Paulo, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Rafael V C Guido
- Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, University of Sao Paulo, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil
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6
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Khan SA, Khan YD, Ahmad S, Allehaibi KH. N-MyristoylG-PseAAC: Sequence-based Prediction of N-Myristoyl Glycine Sites in Proteins by Integration of PseAAC and Statistical Moments. LETT ORG CHEM 2019. [DOI: 10.2174/1570178616666181217153958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
N-Myristoylation, an irreversible protein modification, occurs by the covalent attachment of myristate with the N-terminal glycine of the eukaryotic and viral proteins, and is associated with a variety of pathogens and disease-related proteins. Identification of myristoylation sites through experimental mechanisms can be costly, labour associated and time-consuming. Due to the association of N-myristoylation with various diseases, its timely prediction can help in diagnosing and controlling the associated fatal diseases. Herein, we present a method named N-MyristoylG-PseAAC in which we have incorporated PseAAC with statistical moments for the prediction of N-Myristoyl Glycine (NMG) sites. A benchmark dataset of 893 positive and 1093 negative samples was collected and used in this study. For feature vector, various position and composition relative features along with the statistical moments were calculated. Later on, a back propagation neural network was trained using feature vectors and scaled conjugate gradient descent with adaptive learning was used as an optimizer. Selfconsistency testing and 10-fold cross-validation were performed to evaluate the performance of N-MyristoylG-PseAAC, by using accuracy metrics. For self-consistency testing, 99.80% Acc, 99.78% Sp, 99.81% Sn and 0.99 MCC were observed, whereas, for 10-fold cross validation, 97.18% Acc, 98.54% Sp, 96.07% Sn and 0.94 MCC were observed. Thus, it was found that the proposed predictor can help in predicting the myristoylation sites in an efficient and accurate way.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sher Afzal Khan
- Department of Information Technology, Faculty of Computing and Information Technology in Rabigh, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Yaser Daanial Khan
- Department of Computer Science, University of Management Technology, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Shakeel Ahmad
- Department of Computer Sciences, FCITR, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Khalid H. Allehaibi
- Department of Computer Sciences, FCIT, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
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7
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Corpas-Lopez V, Moniz S, Thomas M, Wall RJ, Torrie LS, Zander-Dinse D, Tinti M, Brand S, Stojanovski L, Manthri S, Hallyburton I, Zuccotto F, Wyatt PG, De Rycker M, Horn D, Ferguson MAJ, Clos J, Read KD, Fairlamb AH, Gilbert IH, Wyllie S. Pharmacological Validation of N-Myristoyltransferase as a Drug Target in Leishmania donovani. ACS Infect Dis 2019; 5:111-122. [PMID: 30380837 PMCID: PMC6332449 DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.8b00226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2018] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), caused by the protozoan parasites Leishmania donovani and L. infantum, is responsible for ∼30 000 deaths annually. Available treatments are inadequate, and there is a pressing need for new therapeutics. N-Myristoyltransferase (NMT) remains one of the few genetically validated drug targets in these parasites. Here, we sought to pharmacologically validate this enzyme in Leishmania. A focused set of 1600 pyrazolyl sulfonamide compounds was screened against L. major NMT in a robust high-throughput biochemical assay. Several potent inhibitors were identified with marginal selectivity over the human enzyme. There was little correlation between the enzyme potency of these inhibitors and their cellular activity against L. donovani axenic amastigotes, and this discrepancy could be due to poor cellular uptake due to the basicity of these compounds. Thus, a series of analogues were synthesized with less basic centers. Although most of these compounds continued to suffer from relatively poor antileishmanial activity, our most potent inhibitor of LmNMT (DDD100097, K i of 0.34 nM) showed modest activity against L. donovani intracellular amastigotes (EC50 of 2.4 μM) and maintained a modest therapeutic window over the human enzyme. Two unbiased approaches, namely, screening against our cosmid-based overexpression library and thermal proteome profiling (TPP), confirm that DDD100097 (compound 2) acts on-target within parasites. Oral dosing with compound 2 resulted in a 52% reduction in parasite burden in our mouse model of VL. Thus, NMT is now a pharmacologically validated target in Leishmania. The challenge in finding drug candidates remains to identify alternative strategies to address the drop-off in activity between enzyme inhibition and in vitro activity while maintaining sufficient selectivity over the human enzyme, both issues that continue to plague studies in this area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoriano Corpas-Lopez
- The Wellcome Trust
Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Sonia Moniz
- The Wellcome Trust
Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Michael Thomas
- The Wellcome Trust
Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Richard J. Wall
- The Wellcome Trust
Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Leah S. Torrie
- The Wellcome Trust
Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Dorothea Zander-Dinse
- Leishmaniasis Group, Bernhard Nocht Institute
for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg D-20359, Germany
| | - Michele Tinti
- The Wellcome Trust
Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Stephen Brand
- The Wellcome Trust
Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Laste Stojanovski
- The Wellcome Trust
Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Sujatha Manthri
- The Wellcome Trust
Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Irene Hallyburton
- The Wellcome Trust
Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Fabio Zuccotto
- The Wellcome Trust
Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Paul G. Wyatt
- The Wellcome Trust
Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Manu De Rycker
- The Wellcome Trust
Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - David Horn
- The Wellcome Trust
Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Michael A. J. Ferguson
- The Wellcome Trust
Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Joachim Clos
- Leishmaniasis Group, Bernhard Nocht Institute
for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg D-20359, Germany
| | - Kevin D. Read
- The Wellcome Trust
Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Alan H. Fairlamb
- The Wellcome Trust
Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Ian H. Gilbert
- The Wellcome Trust
Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Susan Wyllie
- The Wellcome Trust
Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
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8
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Jacquier M, Kuriakose S, Bhardwaj A, Zhang Y, Shrivastav A, Portet S, Varma Shrivastav S. Investigation of Novel Regulation of N-myristoyltransferase by Mammalian Target of Rapamycin in Breast Cancer Cells. Sci Rep 2018; 8:12969. [PMID: 30154572 PMCID: PMC6113272 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-30447-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2018] [Accepted: 07/16/2018] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. Hormone receptor breast cancers are the most common ones and, about 2 out of every 3 cases of breast cancer are estrogen receptor (ER) positive. Selective ER modulators, such as tamoxifen, are the first line of endocrine treatment of breast cancer. Despite the expression of hormone receptors some patients develop tamoxifen resistance and 50% present de novo tamoxifen resistance. Recently, we have demonstrated that activated mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is positively associated with overall survival and recurrence free survival in ER positive breast cancer patients who were later treated with tamoxifen. Since altered expression of protein kinase B (PKB)/Akt in breast cancer cells affect N-myristoyltransferase 1 (NMT1) expression and activity, we investigated whether mTOR, a downstream target of PKB/Akt, regulates NMT1 in ER positive breast cancer cells (MCF7 cells). We inhibited mTOR by treating MCF7 cells with rapamycin and observed that the expression of NMT1 increased with rapamycin treatment over the period of time with a concomitant decrease in mTOR phosphorylation. We further employed mathematical modelling to investigate hitherto not known relationship of mTOR with NMT1. We report here for the first time a collection of models and data validating regulation of NMT1 by mTOR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marine Jacquier
- Department of Mathematics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Shiby Kuriakose
- Department of Biology, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| | - Apurva Bhardwaj
- Department of Biology, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| | - Yang Zhang
- Department of Mathematics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Anuraag Shrivastav
- Department of Biology, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.,Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.,Research Institute of Hematology and Oncology, CancerCare Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| | - Stéphanie Portet
- Department of Mathematics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
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9
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Bayliss T, Robinson DA, Smith VC, Brand S, McElroy SP, Torrie LS, Mpamhanga C, Norval S, Stojanovski L, Brenk R, Frearson JA, Read KD, Gilbert IH, Wyatt PG. Design and Synthesis of Brain Penetrant Trypanocidal N-Myristoyltransferase Inhibitors. J Med Chem 2017; 60:9790-9806. [PMID: 29125744 PMCID: PMC5734605 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.7b01255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
N-Myristoyltransferase (NMT) represents a promising drug target within the parasitic protozoa Trypanosoma brucei (T. brucei), the causative agent for human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) or sleeping sickness. We have previously validated T. brucei NMT as a promising druggable target for the treatment of HAT in both stages 1 and 2 of the disease. We report on the use of the previously reported DDD85646 (1) as a starting point for the design of a class of potent, brain penetrant inhibitors of T. brucei NMT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tracy Bayliss
- Drug Discovery Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee , Sir James Black Centre, Dundee DD1 5EH, U.K
| | - David A Robinson
- Drug Discovery Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee , Sir James Black Centre, Dundee DD1 5EH, U.K
| | - Victoria C Smith
- Drug Discovery Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee , Sir James Black Centre, Dundee DD1 5EH, U.K
| | - Stephen Brand
- Drug Discovery Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee , Sir James Black Centre, Dundee DD1 5EH, U.K
| | - Stuart P McElroy
- Drug Discovery Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee , Sir James Black Centre, Dundee DD1 5EH, U.K
| | - Leah S Torrie
- Drug Discovery Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee , Sir James Black Centre, Dundee DD1 5EH, U.K
| | - Chido Mpamhanga
- Drug Discovery Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee , Sir James Black Centre, Dundee DD1 5EH, U.K
| | - Suzanne Norval
- Drug Discovery Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee , Sir James Black Centre, Dundee DD1 5EH, U.K
| | - Laste Stojanovski
- Drug Discovery Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee , Sir James Black Centre, Dundee DD1 5EH, U.K
| | - Ruth Brenk
- Drug Discovery Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee , Sir James Black Centre, Dundee DD1 5EH, U.K
| | - Julie A Frearson
- Drug Discovery Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee , Sir James Black Centre, Dundee DD1 5EH, U.K
| | - Kevin D Read
- Drug Discovery Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee , Sir James Black Centre, Dundee DD1 5EH, U.K
| | - Ian H Gilbert
- Drug Discovery Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee , Sir James Black Centre, Dundee DD1 5EH, U.K
| | - Paul G Wyatt
- Drug Discovery Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee , Sir James Black Centre, Dundee DD1 5EH, U.K
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10
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Azevedo RVDM, Rizzo J, Rodrigues ML. Virulence Factors as Targets for Anticryptococcal Therapy. J Fungi (Basel) 2016; 2:jof2040029. [PMID: 29376946 PMCID: PMC5715936 DOI: 10.3390/jof2040029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2016] [Revised: 11/18/2016] [Accepted: 11/25/2016] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The global mortality due to cryptococcosis caused by Cryptococcus neoformans or C. gattii is unacceptably high. Currently available therapies are decades old and may be impacted by drug resistance. Therefore, the need for more effective antifungal drugs for cryptococcosis is evident. A number of Cryptococcus virulence factors have been studied in detail, providing crucial information about the fungal biology and putative molecular targets for antifungals. This review focuses on the use of well-described virulence factors of Cryptococcus as potential anticryptococcal agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renata V D M Azevedo
- Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz, Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico em Saúde (CDTS), 21040-361 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
| | - Juliana Rizzo
- Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes (IMPG), Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 21941-902 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- Instituto de Bioquímica Médica (IBqM), Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 21941-902 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
| | - Marcio L Rodrigues
- Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz, Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico em Saúde (CDTS), 21040-361 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes (IMPG), Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 21941-902 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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11
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Herrera LJ, Brand S, Santos A, Nohara LL, Harrison J, Norcross NR, Thompson S, Smith V, Lema C, Varela-Ramirez A, Gilbert IH, Almeida IC, Maldonado RA. Validation of N-myristoyltransferase as Potential Chemotherapeutic Target in Mammal-Dwelling Stages of Trypanosoma cruzi. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2016; 10:e0004540. [PMID: 27128971 PMCID: PMC4851402 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004540] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2015] [Accepted: 02/22/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Trypanosoma cruzi causes Chagas disease, an endemic and debilitating illness in Latin America. Lately, owing to extensive population movements, this neglected tropical disease has become a global health concern. The two clinically available drugs for the chemotherapy of Chagas disease have rather high toxicity and limited efficacy in the chronic phase of the disease, and may induce parasite resistance. The development of new anti-T. cruzi agents is therefore imperative. The enzyme N-myristoyltransferase (NMT) has recently been biochemically characterized, shown to be essential in Leishmania major, Trypanosoma brucei, and T. cruzi¸ and proposed as promising chemotherapeutic target in these trypanosomatids. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Here, using high-content imaging we assayed eight known trypanosomatid NMT inhibitors, against mammal-dwelling intracellular amastigote and trypomastigote stages and demonstrated that three of them (compounds 1, 5, and 8) have potent anti-proliferative effect at submicromolar concentrations against T. cruzi, with very low toxicity against human epithelial cells. Moreover, metabolic labeling using myristic acid, azide showed a considerable decrease in the myristoylation of proteins in parasites treated with NMT inhibitors, providing evidence of the on-target activity of the inhibitors. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE Taken together, our data point out to the potential use of NMT inhibitors as anti-T. cruzi chemotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linda J. Herrera
- The Border Biomedical Research Center, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas, United States of America
| | - Stephen Brand
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Sir James Black Centre, Dundee, United Kingdom
| | - Andres Santos
- The Border Biomedical Research Center, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas, United States of America
| | - Lilian L. Nohara
- The Border Biomedical Research Center, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas, United States of America
| | - Justin Harrison
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Sir James Black Centre, Dundee, United Kingdom
| | - Neil R. Norcross
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Sir James Black Centre, Dundee, United Kingdom
| | - Stephen Thompson
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Sir James Black Centre, Dundee, United Kingdom
| | - Victoria Smith
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Sir James Black Centre, Dundee, United Kingdom
| | - Carolina Lema
- The Border Biomedical Research Center, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas, United States of America
| | - Armando Varela-Ramirez
- The Border Biomedical Research Center, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas, United States of America
| | - Ian H. Gilbert
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Sir James Black Centre, Dundee, United Kingdom
| | - Igor C. Almeida
- The Border Biomedical Research Center, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas, United States of America
| | - Rosa A. Maldonado
- The Border Biomedical Research Center, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas, United States of America
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12
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All about that fat: Lipid modification of proteins in Cryptococcus neoformans. J Microbiol 2016; 54:212-22. [PMID: 26920881 DOI: 10.1007/s12275-016-5626-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2015] [Revised: 02/01/2016] [Accepted: 02/01/2016] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Lipid modification of proteins is a widespread, essential process whereby fatty acids, cholesterol, isoprenoids, phospholipids, or glycosylphospholipids are attached to polypeptides. These hydrophobic groups may affect protein structure, function, localization, and/or stability; as a consequence such modifications play critical regulatory roles in cellular systems. Recent advances in chemical biology and proteomics have allowed the profiling of modified proteins, enabling dissection of the functional consequences of lipid addition. The enzymes that mediate lipid modification are specific for both the lipid and protein substrates, and are conserved from fungi to humans. In this article we review these enzymes, their substrates, and the processes involved in eukaryotic lipid modification of proteins. We further focus on its occurrence in the fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans, highlighting unique features that are both relevant for the biology of the organism and potentially important in the search for new therapies.
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13
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Fang W, Robinson DA, Raimi OG, Blair DE, Harrison JR, Lockhart DEA, Torrie LS, Ruda GF, Wyatt PG, Gilbert IH, van Aalten DMF. N-myristoyltransferase is a cell wall target in Aspergillus fumigatus. ACS Chem Biol 2015; 10:1425-34. [PMID: 25706802 PMCID: PMC4477619 DOI: 10.1021/cb5008647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Treatment of filamentous fungal infections relies on a limited repertoire of antifungal agents. Compounds possessing novel modes of action are urgently required. N-myristoylation is a ubiquitous modification of eukaryotic proteins. The enzyme N-myristoyltransferase (NMT) has been considered a potential therapeutic target in protozoa and yeasts. Here, we show that the filamentous fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus possesses an active NMT enzyme that is essential for survival. Surprisingly, partial repression of the gene revealed downstream effects of N-myristoylation on cell wall morphology. Screening a library of inhibitors led to the discovery of a pyrazole sulphonamide compound that inhibits the enzyme and is fungicidal under partially repressive nmt conditions. Together with a crystallographic complex showing the inhibitor binding in the peptide substrate pocket, we provide evidence of NMT being a potential drug target in A. fumigatus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenxia Fang
- Division of Molecular Microbiology, ‡Division of Biological
Chemistry and Drug Discovery, §MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation
Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - David A. Robinson
- Division of Molecular Microbiology, ‡Division of Biological
Chemistry and Drug Discovery, §MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation
Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Olawale G. Raimi
- Division of Molecular Microbiology, ‡Division of Biological
Chemistry and Drug Discovery, §MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation
Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - David E. Blair
- Division of Molecular Microbiology, ‡Division of Biological
Chemistry and Drug Discovery, §MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation
Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Justin R. Harrison
- Division of Molecular Microbiology, ‡Division of Biological
Chemistry and Drug Discovery, §MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation
Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Deborah E. A. Lockhart
- Division of Molecular Microbiology, ‡Division of Biological
Chemistry and Drug Discovery, §MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation
Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Leah S. Torrie
- Division of Molecular Microbiology, ‡Division of Biological
Chemistry and Drug Discovery, §MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation
Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Gian Filippo Ruda
- Division of Molecular Microbiology, ‡Division of Biological
Chemistry and Drug Discovery, §MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation
Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Paul G. Wyatt
- Division of Molecular Microbiology, ‡Division of Biological
Chemistry and Drug Discovery, §MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation
Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Ian H. Gilbert
- Division of Molecular Microbiology, ‡Division of Biological
Chemistry and Drug Discovery, §MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation
Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Daan M. F. van Aalten
- Division of Molecular Microbiology, ‡Division of Biological
Chemistry and Drug Discovery, §MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation
Unit, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
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14
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Brand S, Norcross NR, Thompson S, Harrison JR, Smith VC, Robinson DA, Torrie LS, McElroy SP, Hallyburton I, Norval S, Scullion P, Stojanovski L, Simeons FRC, van Aalten D, Frearson JA, Brenk R, Fairlamb AH, Ferguson MAJ, Wyatt PG, Gilbert IH, Read KD. Lead optimization of a pyrazole sulfonamide series of Trypanosoma brucei N-myristoyltransferase inhibitors: identification and evaluation of CNS penetrant compounds as potential treatments for stage 2 human African trypanosomiasis. J Med Chem 2014; 57:9855-69. [PMID: 25412409 PMCID: PMC4269550 DOI: 10.1021/jm500809c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
![]()
Trypanosoma bruceiN-myristoyltransferase
(TbNMT) is an attractive therapeutic
target for the treatment of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT). From
previous studies, we identified pyrazole sulfonamide, DDD85646 (1), a potent inhibitor of TbNMT. Although
this compound represents an excellent lead, poor central nervous system
(CNS) exposure restricts its use to the hemolymphatic form (stage
1) of the disease. With a clear clinical need for new drug treatments
for HAT that address both the hemolymphatic and CNS stages of the
disease, a chemistry campaign was initiated to address the shortfalls
of this series. This paper describes modifications to the pyrazole
sulfonamides which markedly improved blood–brain barrier permeability,
achieved by reducing polar surface area and capping the sulfonamide.
Moreover, replacing the core aromatic with a flexible linker significantly
improved selectivity. This led to the discovery of DDD100097 (40) which demonstrated partial efficacy in a stage 2 (CNS)
mouse model of HAT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen Brand
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee , Sir James Black Centre, Dundee DD1 5EH, U.K
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15
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A target repurposing approach identifies N-myristoyltransferase as a new candidate drug target in filarial nematodes. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2014; 8:e3145. [PMID: 25188325 PMCID: PMC4154664 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2014] [Accepted: 07/25/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Myristoylation is a lipid modification involving the addition of a 14-carbon unsaturated fatty acid, myristic acid, to the N-terminal glycine of a subset of proteins, a modification that promotes their binding to cell membranes for varied biological functions. The process is catalyzed by myristoyl-CoA:protein N-myristoyltransferase (NMT), an enzyme which has been validated as a drug target in human cancers, and for infectious diseases caused by fungi, viruses and protozoan parasites. We purified Caenorhabditis elegans and Brugia malayi NMTs as active recombinant proteins and carried out kinetic analyses with their essential fatty acid donor, myristoyl-CoA and peptide substrates. Biochemical and structural analyses both revealed that the nematode enzymes are canonical NMTs, sharing a high degree of conservation with protozoan NMT enzymes. Inhibitory compounds that target NMT in protozoan species inhibited the nematode NMTs with IC50 values of 2.5–10 nM, and were active against B. malayi microfilariae and adult worms at 12.5 µM and 50 µM respectively, and C. elegans (25 µM) in culture. RNA interference and gene deletion in C. elegans further showed that NMT is essential for nematode viability. The effects observed are likely due to disruption of the function of several downstream target proteins. Potential substrates of NMT in B. malayi are predicted using bioinformatic analysis. Our genetic and chemical studies highlight the importance of myristoylation in the synthesis of functional proteins in nematodes and have shown for the first time that NMT is required for viability in parasitic nematodes. These results suggest that targeting NMT could be a valid approach for the development of chemotherapeutic agents against nematode diseases including filariasis. Lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis are neglected tropical diseases caused by filarial nematodes. The limitations of existing drugs to treat these infections highlight the need for new drugs. In the present study, we investigated myristoylation, a lipid modification of a subset of proteins that promotes their binding to cell membranes for varied biological functions. The process is catalyzed by N-myristoyltransferase (NMT), an enzyme which has been validated as a drug target in protozoan parasites. We performed kinetic analyses on Caenorhabditis elegans and Brugia malayi NMTs. NMT inhibitors were active against B. malayi microfilariae and adult worms, and C. elegans in culture. RNA interference and gene deletion in C. elegans further demonstrated that NMT is essential for nematode viability. Our genetic and chemical studies indicate the importance of myristoylation in the synthesis of functional proteins in nematodes and have shown for the first time that NMT is required for viability in parasitic nematodes. These results suggest that targeting NMT could be a valid approach for the development of new therapies against nematode infection including filarial diseases.
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16
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Recent Advances in The Discovery ofN-Myristoyltransferase Inhibitors. ChemMedChem 2014; 9:2425-37. [DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.201402174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2014] [Revised: 07/17/2014] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
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17
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Brannigan JA, Roberts SM, Bell AS, Hutton JA, Hodgkinson MR, Tate EW, Leatherbarrow RJ, Smith DF, Wilkinson AJ. Diverse modes of binding in structures of Leishmania major N-myristoyltransferase with selective inhibitors. IUCRJ 2014; 1:250-60. [PMID: 25075346 PMCID: PMC4107925 DOI: 10.1107/s2052252514013001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2014] [Accepted: 06/04/2014] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
The leishmaniases are a spectrum of global diseases of poverty associated with immune dysfunction and are the cause of high morbidity. Despite the long history of these diseases, no effective vaccine is available and the currently used drugs are variously compromised by moderate efficacy, complex side effects and the emergence of resistance. It is therefore widely accepted that new therapies are needed. N-Myristoyltransferase (NMT) has been validated pre-clinically as a target for the treatment of fungal and parasitic infections. In a previously reported high-throughput screening program, a number of hit compounds with activity against NMT from Leishmania donovani have been identified. Here, high-resolution crystal structures of representative compounds from four hit series in ternary complexes with myristoyl-CoA and NMT from the closely related L. major are reported. The structures reveal that the inhibitors associate with the peptide-binding groove at a site adjacent to the bound myristoyl-CoA and the catalytic α-carboxylate of Leu421. Each inhibitor makes extensive apolar contacts as well as a small number of polar contacts with the protein. Remarkably, the compounds exploit different features of the peptide-binding groove and collectively occupy a substantial volume of this pocket, suggesting that there is potential for the design of chimaeric inhibitors with significantly enhanced binding. Despite the high conservation of the active sites of the parasite and human NMTs, the inhibitors act selectively over the host enzyme. The role of conformational flexibility in the side chain of Tyr217 in conferring selectivity is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- James A. Brannigan
- Structural Biology Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of York, York YO10 5DD, England
| | - Shirley M. Roberts
- Structural Biology Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of York, York YO10 5DD, England
| | - Andrew S. Bell
- Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, England
| | - Jennie A. Hutton
- Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, England
| | - Michael R. Hodgkinson
- Centre for Immunology and Infection, Department of Biology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, England
| | - Edward W. Tate
- Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, England
| | - Robin J. Leatherbarrow
- Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, England
| | - Deborah F. Smith
- Centre for Immunology and Infection, Department of Biology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, England
| | - Anthony J. Wilkinson
- Structural Biology Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of York, York YO10 5DD, England
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18
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Goldston AM, Sharma AI, Paul KS, Engman DM. Acylation in trypanosomatids: an essential process and potential drug target. Trends Parasitol 2014; 30:350-60. [PMID: 24954795 DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2014.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2014] [Revised: 05/06/2014] [Accepted: 05/06/2014] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Fatty acylation--the addition of fatty acid moieties such as myristate and palmitate to proteins--is essential for the survival, growth, and infectivity of the trypanosomatids: Trypanosoma brucei, Trypanosoma cruzi, and Leishmania. Myristoylation and palmitoylation are critical for parasite growth, targeting and localization, and the intrinsic function of some proteins. The trypanosomatids possess a single N-myristoyltransferase (NMT) and multiple palmitoyl acyltransferases, and these enzymes and their protein targets are only now being characterized. Global inhibition of either process leads to cell death in trypanosomatids, and genetic ablation of NMT compromises virulence. Moreover, NMT inhibitors effectively cure T. brucei infection in rodents. Thus, protein acylation represents an attractive target for the development of new trypanocidal drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda M Goldston
- Departments of Pathology and Microbiology-Immunology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Aabha I Sharma
- Departments of Pathology and Microbiology-Immunology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Kimberly S Paul
- Department of Genetics and Biochemistry, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA
| | - David M Engman
- Departments of Pathology and Microbiology-Immunology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
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19
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Roberts A, Torrie L, Wyllie S, Fairlamb A. Biochemical and genetic characterization of Trypanosoma cruzi N-myristoyltransferase. Biochem J 2014; 459:323-32. [PMID: 24444291 PMCID: PMC3969225 DOI: 10.1042/bj20131033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2013] [Revised: 01/20/2014] [Accepted: 01/21/2014] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Co- and post-translational N-myristoylation is known to play a role in the correct subcellular localization of specific proteins in eukaryotes. The enzyme that catalyses this reaction, NMT (N-myristoyltransferase), has been pharmacologically validated as a drug target in the African trypanosome, Trypanosoma brucei. In the present study, we evaluate NMT as a potential drug target in Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas' disease, using chemical and genetic approaches. Replacement of both allelic copies of TcNMT (T. cruzi NMT) was only possible in the presence of a constitutively expressed ectopic copy of the gene, indicating that this gene is essential for survival of T. cruzi epimastigotes. The pyrazole sulphonamide NMT inhibitor DDD85646 is 13-23-fold less potent against recombinant TcNMT than TbNMT (T. brucei NMT), with Ki values of 12.7 and 22.8 nM respectively, by scintillation proximity or coupled assay methods. DDD85646 also inhibits growth of T. cruzi epimastigotes (EC50=6.9 μM), but is ~1000-fold less potent than that reported for T. brucei. On-target activity is demonstrated by shifts in cell potency in lines that over- and under-express NMT and by inhibition of intracellular N-myristoylation of several proteins in a dose-dependent manner. Collectively, our findings suggest that N-myristoylation is an essential and druggable target in T. cruzi.
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Key Words
- chagas’ disease
- click chemistry
- drug target
- n-myristoylation
- trypanosoma cruzi
- validation
- cap5.5, cytoskeleton-associated protein 5.5
- dig, digoxigenin
- dko, double knockout
- dmem, dulbecco’s modified eagle’s medium
- hyg, hygromycin phosphotransferase
- nmt, n-myristoyltransferase
- nmtoe, nmt overexpressor
- pac, puromycin n-acetyltransferase
- rth/fbs, rpmi 1640 medium supplemented with trypticase, haemin, hepes and 10% heat-inactivated fbs
- sko, single knockout
- tbnmt, trypanosoma brucei nmt
- tcep, tris-(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine
- tcnmt, trypanosoma cruzi nmt
- tctryr, trypanosoma cruzi trypanothione reductase
- wt, wild-type
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam J. Roberts
- *Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 5EH, U.K
| | - Leah S. Torrie
- *Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 5EH, U.K
| | - Susan Wyllie
- *Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 5EH, U.K
| | - Alan H. Fairlamb
- *Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 5EH, U.K
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20
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Tate EW, Bell AS, Rackham MD, Wright MH. N-Myristoyltransferase as a potential drug target in malaria and leishmaniasis. Parasitology 2014; 141:37-49. [PMID: 23611109 DOI: 10.1017/s0031182013000450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Infections caused by protozoan parasites are among the most widespread and intractable transmissible diseases affecting the developing world, with malaria and leishmaniasis being the most costly in terms of morbidity and mortality. Although new drugs are urgently required against both diseases in the face of ever-rising resistance to frontline therapies, very few candidates passing through development pipelines possess a known and novel mode of action. Set in the context of drugs currently in use and under development, we present the evidence for N-myristoyltransferase (NMT), an enzyme that N-terminally lipidates a wide range of specific target proteins through post-translational modification, as a potential drug target in malaria and the leishmaniases. We discuss the limitations of current knowledge regarding the downstream targets of this enzyme in protozoa, and our recent progress towards potent cell-active NMT inhibitors against the most clinically-relevant species of parasite. Finally, we outline the next steps required in terms of both tools to understand N-myristoylation in protozoan parasites, and the generation of potential development candidates based on the output of our recently-reported high-throughput screens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward W Tate
- Department of Chemistry, Institute of Chemical Biology, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Andrew S Bell
- Department of Chemistry, Institute of Chemical Biology, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Mark D Rackham
- Department of Chemistry, Institute of Chemical Biology, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Megan H Wright
- Department of Chemistry, Institute of Chemical Biology, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
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21
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Interactions of antiparasitic alkaloids with Leishmania protein targets: a molecular docking analysis. Future Med Chem 2013; 5:1777-99. [DOI: 10.4155/fmc.13.114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Leishmaniasis is a collection of chronic diseases caused by protozoa of the genus Leishmania. Current antileishmanial chemotherapeutics have demonstrated adverse side effects and therefore R&D into new safer alternative treatments are needed. Methods: A molecular docking analysis has been carried out to assess possible Leishmania biochemical targets of antiparasitic alkaloids. A total of 209 antiparasitic alkaloids were docked with 24 Leishmania protein targets. Results: The strongest docking alkaloid ligands were flinderoles A and B and juliflorine with Leishmania major methionyl-tRNA synthetase; juliflorine, juliprosine, prosopilosidine and prosopilosine with Leishmania mexicana glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; and ancistrogriffithine A with L. major N-myristoyl transferase. Conclusion: This molecular docking study has provided evidence for what classes and structural types of alkaloids may be targeting specific Leishmania protein targets.
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22
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Gilbert IH. Drug discovery for neglected diseases: molecular target-based and phenotypic approaches. J Med Chem 2013; 56:7719-26. [PMID: 24015767 PMCID: PMC3954685 DOI: 10.1021/jm400362b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 132] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
![]()
Drug
discovery for neglected tropical diseases is carried out using
both target-based and phenotypic approaches. In this paper, target-based
approaches are discussed, with a particular focus on human African
trypanosomiasis. Target-based drug discovery can be successful, but
careful selection of targets is required. There are still very few
fully validated drug targets in neglected diseases, and there is a
high attrition rate in target-based drug discovery for these diseases.
Phenotypic screening is a powerful method in both neglected and non-neglected
diseases and has been very successfully used. Identification of molecular
targets from phenotypic approaches can be a way to identify potential
new drug targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian H Gilbert
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee , Dundee DD1 5EH, U.K
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23
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Target-based drug discovery for human African trypanosomiasis: selection of molecular target and chemical matter. Parasitology 2013; 141:28-36. [PMID: 23931634 PMCID: PMC3884840 DOI: 10.1017/s0031182013001017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Target-based approaches for human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) and related parasites can be a valuable route for drug discovery for these diseases. However, care needs to be taken in selection of both the actual drug target and the chemical matter that is developed. In this article, potential criteria to aid target selection are described. Then the physiochemical properties of typical oral drugs are discussed and compared to those of known anti-parasitics.
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24
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Yu Z, Brannigan JA, Moss DK, Brzozowski AM, Wilkinson AJ, Holder AA, Tate EW, Leatherbarrow RJ. Design and synthesis of inhibitors of Plasmodium falciparum N-myristoyltransferase, a promising target for antimalarial drug discovery. J Med Chem 2012; 55:8879-90. [PMID: 23035716 PMCID: PMC3863768 DOI: 10.1021/jm301160h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Design of inhibitors for N-myristoyltransferase (NMT), an enzyme responsible for protein trafficking in Plasmodium falciparum , the most lethal species of parasites that cause malaria, is described. Chemistry-driven optimization of compound 1 from a focused NMT inhibitor library led to the identification of two early lead compounds 4 and 25, which showed good enzyme and cellular potency and excellent selectivity over human NMT. These molecules provide a valuable starting point for further development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiyong Yu
- Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, U.K
| | - James A. Brannigan
- York Structural Biology Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, U.K
| | - David K. Moss
- Division of Parasitology, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, The Ridgeway, Mill Hill, London, NW7 1AA, U.K
| | - A. Marek Brzozowski
- York Structural Biology Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, U.K
| | - Anthony J. Wilkinson
- York Structural Biology Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, U.K
| | - Anthony A. Holder
- Division of Parasitology, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, The Ridgeway, Mill Hill, London, NW7 1AA, U.K
| | - Edward W. Tate
- Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, U.K
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25
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Selective inhibitors of protozoan protein N-myristoyltransferases as starting points for tropical disease medicinal chemistry programs. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2012; 6:e1625. [PMID: 22545171 PMCID: PMC3335879 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0001625] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2011] [Accepted: 03/07/2012] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Inhibition of N-myristoyltransferase has been validated pre-clinically as a target for the treatment of fungal and trypanosome infections, using species-specific inhibitors. In order to identify inhibitors of protozoan NMTs, we chose to screen a diverse subset of the Pfizer corporate collection against Plasmodium falciparum and Leishmania donovani NMTs. Primary screening hits against either enzyme were tested for selectivity over both human NMT isoforms (Hs1 and Hs2) and for broad-spectrum anti-protozoan activity against the NMT from Trypanosoma brucei. Analysis of the screening results has shown that structure-activity relationships (SAR) for Leishmania NMT are divergent from all other NMTs tested, a finding not predicted by sequence similarity calculations, resulting in the identification of four novel series of Leishmania-selective NMT inhibitors. We found a strong overlap between the SARs for Plasmodium NMT and both human NMTs, suggesting that achieving an appropriate selectivity profile will be more challenging. However, we did discover two novel series with selectivity for Plasmodium NMT over the other NMT orthologues in this study, and an additional two structurally distinct series with selectivity over Leishmania NMT. We believe that release of results from this study into the public domain will accelerate the discovery of NMT inhibitors to treat malaria and leishmaniasis. Our screening initiative is another example of how a tripartite partnership involving pharmaceutical industries, academic institutions and governmental/non-governmental organisations such as Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust can stimulate research for neglected diseases. Inhibition of N-myristoyltransferase has been validated pre-clinically as a target for the treatment of fungal and trypanosome infections, using species-specific inhibitors. In order to identify inhibitors of protozoan NMTs, we chose to screen a diverse subset of the Pfizer corporate collection against Plasmodium falciparum and Leishmania donovani NMTs. Primary screening hits against either enzyme were tested for selectivity over both human NMT isoforms (HsNMT1 and HsNMT2) and for broad-spectrum anti-protozoan activity against the NMT from Trypanosoma brucei. We have identified eight series of protozoan NMT inhibitors, six having good selectivity for either Plasmodium or Leishmania NMTs over the other orthologues in this study. We believe that all of these series could form the basis of medicinal chemistry programs to deliver drug candidates against either malaria or leishmaniasis. Our screening initiative is another example of how a tripartite partnership involving pharmaceutical industries, academic institutions and governmental/non-governmental organisations such as the UK Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust can stimulate research for neglected diseases.
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26
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Sousa SF, Fernandes PA, Ramos MJ. Computational enzymatic catalysis – clarifying enzymatic mechanisms with the help of computers. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2012; 14:12431-41. [DOI: 10.1039/c2cp41180f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
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27
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Brand S, Cleghorn LAT, McElroy SP, Robinson DA, Smith VC, Hallyburton I, Harrison JR, Norcross NR, Spinks D, Bayliss T, Norval S, Stojanovski L, Torrie LS, Frearson JA, Brenk R, Fairlamb AH, Ferguson MAJ, Read KD, Wyatt PG, Gilbert IH. Discovery of a novel class of orally active trypanocidal N-myristoyltransferase inhibitors. J Med Chem 2011; 55:140-52. [PMID: 22148754 PMCID: PMC3256935 DOI: 10.1021/jm201091t] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
N-Myristoyltransferase (NMT) represents a promising drug target for human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), which is caused by the parasitic protozoa Trypanosoma brucei. We report the optimization of a high throughput screening hit (1) to give a lead molecule DDD85646 (63), which has potent activity against the enzyme (IC(50) = 2 nM) and T. brucei (EC(50) = 2 nM) in culture. The compound has good oral pharmacokinetics and cures rodent models of peripheral HAT infection. This compound provides an excellent tool for validation of T. brucei NMT as a drug target for HAT as well as a valuable lead for further optimization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen Brand
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Sir James Black Centre, Dundee, DD1 5EH, U.K
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28
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Perez MAS, Sousa SF, Oliveira EFT, Fernandes PA, Ramos MJ. Detection of Farnesyltransferase Interface Hot Spots through Computational Alanine Scanning Mutagenesis. J Phys Chem B 2011; 115:15339-54. [DOI: 10.1021/jp205481y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Marta A. S. Perez
- REQUIMTE, Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 687, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal
| | - Sérgio F. Sousa
- REQUIMTE, Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 687, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal
| | - Eduardo F. T. Oliveira
- REQUIMTE, Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 687, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal
| | - Pedro A. Fernandes
- REQUIMTE, Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 687, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal
| | - Maria J. Ramos
- REQUIMTE, Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 687, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal
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29
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Goncalves V, Brannigan JA, Thinon E, Olaleye TO, Serwa R, Lanzarone S, Wilkinson AJ, Tate EW, Leatherbarrow RJ. A fluorescence-based assay for N-myristoyltransferase activity. Anal Biochem 2011; 421:342-4. [PMID: 22051857 DOI: 10.1016/j.ab.2011.10.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2011] [Revised: 09/30/2011] [Accepted: 10/05/2011] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
N-myristoylation is the irreversible attachment of a C(14) fatty acid, myristic acid, to the N-terminal glycine of a protein via formation of an amide bond. This modification is catalyzed by myristoyl-coenzyme A (CoA):protein N-myristoyltransferase (NMT), an enzyme ubiquitous in eukaryotes that is up-regulated in several cancers. Here we report a sensitive fluorescence-based assay to study the enzymatic activity of human NMT1 and NMT2 based on detection of CoA by 7-diethylamino-3-(4-maleimido-phenyl)-4-methylcoumarin. We also describe expression and characterization of NMT1 and NMT2 and assay validation with small molecule inhibitors. This assay should be broadly applicable to NMTs from a range of organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor Goncalves
- Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
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30
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N-myristoyltransferase in the leukocytic development processes. Cell Tissue Res 2011; 345:203-11. [PMID: 21698528 DOI: 10.1007/s00441-011-1202-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2011] [Accepted: 06/03/2011] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The lipidic modification of proteins has recently been shown to be of immense importance, although many of the roles of these modifications remain as yet unidentified. One of such key modifications occurring on several proteins is the covalent addition of a 14-carbon long saturated fatty acid, a process termed myristoylation. Myristoylation can occur during both co-translational protein synthesis and posttranslationally, confers lipophilicity to protein molecules, and controls protein functions. The protein myristoylation process is catalyzed by the enzyme N-myristoyltransferase (NMT), which exists as two isoforms: NMT1 and NMT2. NMT1 is essential for growth and development, during which rapid cellular proliferation is required, in a variety of organisms. NMT1 is also reported to be elevated in many cancerous states, which also involve rapid cellular growth, albeit in an unwanted and uncontrolled manner. The delineation of myristoylation-dependent cellular functions is still in a state of infancy, and many of the roles of the myristoylated proteins remain to be established. The development of cells of the leukocytic lineage represents a phase of rapid growth and development, and we have observed that NMT1 plays a role in this process. The current review outlines the roles of NMT1 in the growth and differentiation of the cells of leukocytic origin. The described studies clearly demonstrate the roles of NMT1 in the regulation of the developmental processes of the leukocytes cells and provide a basis for further research with the aim of unraveling the roles of protein myristoylation in both cellular and physiological context.
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31
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Martin DDO, Beauchamp E, Berthiaume LG. Post-translational myristoylation: Fat matters in cellular life and death. Biochimie 2011; 93:18-31. [PMID: 21056615 DOI: 10.1016/j.biochi.2010.10.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 152] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2010] [Accepted: 10/23/2010] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Myristoylation corresponds to the irreversible covalent linkage of the 14-carbon saturated fatty acid, myristic acid, to the N-terminal glycine of many eukaryotic and viral proteins. It is catalyzed by N-myristoyltransferase. Typically, the myristate moiety participates in protein subcellular localization by facilitating protein-membrane interactions as well as protein-protein interactions. Myristoylated proteins are crucial components of a wide variety of functions, which include many signalling pathways, oncogenesis or viral replication. Initially, myristoylation was described as a co-translational reaction that occurs after the removal of the initiator methionine residue. However, it is now well established that myristoylation can also occur post-translationally in apoptotic cells. Indeed, during apoptosis hundreds of proteins are cleaved by caspases and in many cases this cleavage exposes an N-terminal glycine within a cryptic myristoylation consensus sequence, which can be myristoylated. The principal objective of this review is to provide an overview on the implication of myristoylation in health and disease with a special emphasis on post-translational myristoylation. In addition, new advancements in the detection and identification of myristoylated proteins are also briefly reviewed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dale D O Martin
- Department of Cell Biology, School of Molecular and Systems Medicine, MSB-5-55, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2H7, Canada
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32
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Jacobs RT, Nare B, Phillips MA. State of the art in African trypanosome drug discovery. Curr Top Med Chem 2011; 11:1255-74. [PMID: 21401507 PMCID: PMC3101707 DOI: 10.2174/156802611795429167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 104] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2010] [Accepted: 11/25/2010] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
African sleeping sickness is endemic in sub-Saharan Africa where the WHO estimates that 60 million people are at risk for the disease. Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) is 100% fatal if untreated and the current drug therapies have significant limitations due to toxicity and difficult treatment regimes. No new chemical agents have been approved since eflornithine in 1990. The pentamidine analog DB289, which was in late stage clinical trials for the treatment of early stage HAT recently failed due to toxicity issues. A new protocol for the treatment of late-stage T. brucei gambiense that uses combination nifurtomox/eflornithine (NECT) was recently shown to have better safety and efficacy than eflornithine alone, while being easier to administer. This breakthrough represents the only new therapy for HAT since the approval of eflornithine. A number of research programs are on going to exploit the unusual biochemical pathways in the parasite to identify new targets for target based drug discovery programs. HTS efforts are also underway to discover new chemical entities through whole organism screening approaches. A number of inhibitors with anti-trypanosomal activity have been identified by both approaches, but none of the programs are yet at the stage of identifying a preclinical candidate. This dire situation underscores the need for continued effort to identify new chemical agents for the treatment of HAT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert T. Jacobs
- SCYNEXIS, Inc., Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709-2878
| | - Bakela Nare
- SCYNEXIS, Inc., Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709-2878
| | - Margaret A. Phillips
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 6001 Forest Park Rd, Dallas, Texas 75390-9041
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33
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Frearson JA, Brand S, McElroy SP, Cleghorn LAT, Smid O, Stojanovski L, Price HP, Guther MLS, Torrie LS, Robinson DA, Hallyburton I, Mpamhanga CP, Brannigan JA, Wilkinson AJ, Hodgkinson M, Hui R, Qiu W, Raimi OG, van Aalten DMF, Brenk R, Gilbert IH, Read KD, Fairlamb AH, Ferguson MAJ, Smith DF, Wyatt PG. N-myristoyltransferase inhibitors as new leads to treat sleeping sickness. Nature 2010; 464:728-32. [PMID: 20360736 PMCID: PMC2917743 DOI: 10.1038/nature08893] [Citation(s) in RCA: 221] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2009] [Accepted: 02/10/2010] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
African sleeping sickness or human African trypanosomiasis, caused by Trypanosoma brucei spp., is responsible for approximately 30,000 deaths each year. Available treatments for this disease are poor, with unacceptable efficacy and safety profiles, particularly in the late stage of the disease when the parasite has infected the central nervous system. Here we report the validation of a molecular target and the discovery of associated lead compounds with the potential to address this lack of suitable treatments. Inhibition of this target-T. brucei N-myristoyltransferase-leads to rapid killing of trypanosomes both in vitro and in vivo and cures trypanosomiasis in mice. These high-affinity inhibitors bind into the peptide substrate pocket of the enzyme and inhibit protein N-myristoylation in trypanosomes. The compounds identified have promising pharmaceutical properties and represent an opportunity to develop oral drugs to treat this devastating disease. Our studies validate T. brucei N-myristoyltransferase as a promising therapeutic target for human African trypanosomiasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie A Frearson
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 5EH, UK
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34
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Brannigan JA, Smith BA, Yu Z, Brzozowski AM, Hodgkinson MR, Maroof A, Price HP, Meier F, Leatherbarrow RJ, Tate EW, Smith DF, Wilkinson AJ. N-myristoyltransferase from Leishmania donovani: structural and functional characterisation of a potential drug target for visceral leishmaniasis. J Mol Biol 2010; 396:985-99. [PMID: 20036251 PMCID: PMC2829124 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2009.12.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2009] [Revised: 12/15/2009] [Accepted: 12/16/2009] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
N-Myristoyltransferase (NMT) catalyses the attachment of the 14-carbon saturated fatty acid, myristate, to the amino-terminal glycine residue of a subset of eukaryotic proteins that function in multiple cellular processes, including vesicular protein trafficking and signal transduction. In these pathways, N-myristoylation facilitates association of substrate proteins with membranes or the hydrophobic domains of other partner peptides. NMT function is essential for viability in all cell types tested to date, demonstrating that this enzyme has potential as a target for drug development. Here, we provide genetic evidence that NMT is likely to be essential for viability in insect stages of the pathogenic protozoan parasite, Leishmania donovani, causative agent of the tropical infectious disease, visceral leishmaniasis. The open reading frame of L. donovani NMT has been amplified and used to overproduce active recombinant enzyme in Escherichia coli, as demonstrated by gel mobility shift assays of ligand binding and peptide-myristoylation activity in scintillation proximity assays. The purified protein has been crystallized in complex with the non-hydrolysable substrate analogue S-(2-oxo)pentadecyl-CoA, and its structure was solved by molecular replacement at 1.4 A resolution. The structure has as its defining feature a 14-stranded twisted beta-sheet on which helices are packed so as to form an extended and curved substrate-binding groove running across two protein lobes. The fatty acyl-CoA is largely buried in the N-terminal lobe, its binding leading to the loosening of a flap, which in unliganded NMT structures, occludes the protein substrate binding site in the carboxy-terminal lobe. These studies validate L. donovani NMT as a potential target for development of new therapeutic agents against visceral leishmaniasis.
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Key Words
- arf, adp-ribosylation factor
- dig, digoxigenin
- hasp, hydrophilic acylated surface protein
- hyg, hygromycin
- neo, neomycin
- nhm, non-hydrolysable myristoyl-coa analogue
- nmt, n-myristoyltransferase
- orf, open reading frame
- pac, puromycin
- spa, scintillation proximity assay
- vl, visceral leishmaniasis
- canmt, hsnmt, ldnmt and scnmt, n-myristoyltransferase from candida albicans, homo sapiens, leishmania donovani and saccharomyces cerevisiae, respectively
- n-myristoyltransferase
- leishmania
- visceral leishmaniasis
- crystal structure
- drug target
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Affiliation(s)
- James A. Brannigan
- York Structural Biology Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of York, York YO10 5YW, UK
| | - Barbara A. Smith
- Centre for Immunology and Infection, Department of Biology/Hull York Medical School, University of York, York YO10 5YW, UK
| | - Zhiyong Yu
- Department of Chemistry, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Andrzej M. Brzozowski
- York Structural Biology Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of York, York YO10 5YW, UK
| | - Michael R. Hodgkinson
- Centre for Immunology and Infection, Department of Biology/Hull York Medical School, University of York, York YO10 5YW, UK
| | - Asher Maroof
- Centre for Immunology and Infection, Department of Biology/Hull York Medical School, University of York, York YO10 5YW, UK
| | - Helen P. Price
- Centre for Immunology and Infection, Department of Biology/Hull York Medical School, University of York, York YO10 5YW, UK
| | - Franziska Meier
- Department of Chemistry, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, UK
| | | | - Edward W. Tate
- Department of Chemistry, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Deborah F. Smith
- Centre for Immunology and Infection, Department of Biology/Hull York Medical School, University of York, York YO10 5YW, UK
| | - Anthony J. Wilkinson
- York Structural Biology Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of York, York YO10 5YW, UK
- Corresponding author.
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35
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Wright MH, Heal WP, Mann DJ, Tate EW. Protein myristoylation in health and disease. J Chem Biol 2010; 3:19-35. [PMID: 19898886 PMCID: PMC2816741 DOI: 10.1007/s12154-009-0032-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 182] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2009] [Revised: 10/05/2009] [Accepted: 10/19/2009] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
N-myristoylation is the attachment of a 14-carbon fatty acid, myristate, onto the N-terminal glycine residue of target proteins, catalysed by N-myristoyltransferase (NMT), a ubiquitous and essential enzyme in eukaryotes. Many of the target proteins of NMT are crucial components of signalling pathways, and myristoylation typically promotes membrane binding that is essential for proper protein localisation or biological function. NMT is a validated therapeutic target in opportunistic infections of humans by fungi or parasitic protozoa. Additionally, NMT is implicated in carcinogenesis, particularly colon cancer, where there is evidence for its upregulation in the early stages of tumour formation. However, the study of myristoylation in all organisms has until recently been hindered by a lack of techniques for detection and identification of myristoylated proteins. Here we introduce the chemistry and biology of N-myristoylation and NMT, and discuss new developments in chemical proteomic technologies that are meeting the challenge of studying this important co-translational modification in living systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan H. Wright
- Chemical Biology Centre, Imperial College London, Exhibition Rd., London, SW72AZ UK
- Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, Exhibition Rd., London, SW72AZ UK
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Exhibition Rd., London, SW72AZ UK
| | - William P. Heal
- Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, Exhibition Rd., London, SW72AZ UK
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Exhibition Rd., London, SW72AZ UK
| | - David J. Mann
- Chemical Biology Centre, Imperial College London, Exhibition Rd., London, SW72AZ UK
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Exhibition Rd., London, SW72AZ UK
| | - Edward W. Tate
- Chemical Biology Centre, Imperial College London, Exhibition Rd., London, SW72AZ UK
- Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, Exhibition Rd., London, SW72AZ UK
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36
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Price HP, Güther MLS, Ferguson MAJ, Smith DF. Myristoyl-CoA:protein N-myristoyltransferase depletion in trypanosomes causes avirulence and endocytic defects. Mol Biochem Parasitol 2009; 169:55-8. [PMID: 19782106 PMCID: PMC2789243 DOI: 10.1016/j.molbiopara.2009.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2009] [Revised: 09/14/2009] [Accepted: 09/17/2009] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
The enzyme myristoyl-CoA:protein N-myristoyltransferase (NMT) catalyses the co-translational covalent attachment of the fatty acid myristate to the N-terminus of target proteins. NMT is known to be essential for viability in Trypanosoma brucei and Leishmania major. Here we describe phenotypic analysis of T. brucei bloodstream form cells following knockdown of NMT expression by tetracycline-inducible RNA interference. Cell death occurs from 72 h post-induction, with approximately 50% of cells displaying a defect in endocytic uptake by this time. The majority of these induced cells do not have an enlarged flagellar pocket typical of a block in endocytosis but vesicle accumulation around the flagellar pocket indicates a defect in vesicular progression following endocytic fusion. Induced parasites have a wild-type or slightly enlarged Golgi apparatus, unlike the phenotype of cells with reduced expression of a major N-myristoylated protein, ARL1. Critically we show that following NMT knockdown, T. brucei bloodstream form cells are unable to establish an infection in a mouse model, therefore providing further validation of this enzyme as a target for drug development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen P Price
- Centre for Immunology and Infection, Department of Biology, University of York, UK.
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37
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Sheng C, Ji H, Miao Z, Che X, Yao J, Wang W, Dong G, Guo W, Lü J, Zhang W. Homology modeling and molecular dynamics simulation of N-myristoyltransferase from protozoan parasites: active site characterization and insights into rational inhibitor design. J Comput Aided Mol Des 2009; 23:375-89. [PMID: 19370313 DOI: 10.1007/s10822-009-9267-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2008] [Accepted: 03/26/2009] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Myristoyl-CoA:protein N-myristoyltransferase (NMT) is a cytosolic monomeric enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of the myristoyl group from myristoyl-CoA to the N-terminal glycine of a number of eukaryotic cellular and viral proteins. Recent experimental data suggest NMT from parasites could be a promising new target for the design of novel antiparasitic agents with new mode of action. However, the active site topology and inhibitor specificity of these enzymes remain unclear. In this study, three-dimensional models of NMT from Plasmodium falciparum (PfNMT), Leishmania major (LmNMT) and Trypanosoma brucei (TbNMT) were constructed on the basis of the crystal structures of fungal NMTs using homology modeling method. The models were further refined by energy minimization and molecular dynamics simulations. The active sites of PfNMT, LmNMT and TbNMT were characterized by multiple copy simultaneous search (MCSS). MCSS functional maps reveal that PfNMT, LmNMT and TbNMT share a similar active site topology, which is defined by two hydrophobic pockets, a hydrogen-bonding (HB) pocket, a negatively-charged HB pocket and a positively-charged HB pocket. Flexible docking approaches were then employed to dock known inhibitors into the active site of PfNMT. The binding mode, structure-activity relationships and selectivity of inhibitors were investigated in detail. From the results of molecular modeling, the active site architecture and certain key residues responsible for inhibitor binding were identified, which provided insights for the design of novel inhibitors of parasitic NMTs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chunquan Sheng
- School of Pharmacy, Military Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
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Heal WP, Wickramasinghe SR, Leatherbarrow RJ, Tate EW. N-Myristoyl transferase-mediated protein labelling in vivo. Org Biomol Chem 2008; 6:2308-15. [PMID: 18563263 DOI: 10.1039/b803258k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 109] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
N-Myristoyl transferase-mediated labelling using a substrate modified with an azide or alkyne tag is described as an efficient and site-selective method for the introduction of a bioorthogonal tag at the N-terminus of a recombinant protein. The procedure may be performed in vitro, or in a single over-expression/tagging step in vivo in bacteria; tagged proteins may then be captured using Staudinger-Bertozzi or 'click' chemistry protocols to introduce a secondary label for downstream analysis. The straightforward synthesis of the chemical and molecular biological tools described should enable their use in a wide range of N-terminal labelling applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- William P Heal
- Department of Chemistry, South Kensington Campus, Imperial College, London, UK SW7 2AZ
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Stuart K, Brun R, Croft S, Fairlamb A, Gürtler RE, McKerrow J, Reed S, Tarleton R. Kinetoplastids: related protozoan pathogens, different diseases. J Clin Invest 2008; 118:1301-10. [PMID: 18382742 PMCID: PMC2276762 DOI: 10.1172/jci33945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 396] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Kinetoplastids are a group of flagellated protozoans that include the species Trypanosoma and Leishmania, which are human pathogens with devastating health and economic effects. The sequencing of the genomes of some of these species has highlighted their genetic relatedness and underlined differences in the diseases that they cause. As we discuss in this Review, steady progress using a combination of molecular, genetic, immunologic, and clinical approaches has substantially increased understanding of these pathogens and important aspects of the diseases that they cause. Consequently, the paths for developing additional measures to control these "neglected diseases" are becoming increasingly clear, and we believe that the opportunities for developing the drugs, diagnostics, vaccines, and other tools necessary to expand the armamentarium to combat these diseases have never been better.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ken Stuart
- Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, Seattle, Washington, USA.
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40
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Bowyer PW, Tate EW, Leatherbarrow RJ, Holder AA, Smith DF, Brown KA. N-myristoyltransferase: a prospective drug target for protozoan parasites. ChemMedChem 2008; 3:402-8. [PMID: 18324715 DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.200700301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Paul W Bowyer
- Division of Cell and Molecular Biology, Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
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41
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Bowyer P, Gunaratne R, Grainger M, Withers-Martinez C, Wickramsinghe S, Tate E, Leatherbarrow R, Brown K, Holder A, Smith D. Molecules incorporating a benzothiazole core scaffold inhibit the N-myristoyltransferase of Plasmodium falciparum. Biochem J 2007; 408:173-80. [PMID: 17714074 PMCID: PMC2267354 DOI: 10.1042/bj20070692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Recombinant N-myristoyltransferase of Plasmodium falciparum (termed PfNMT) has been used in the development of a SPA (scintillation proximity assay) suitable for automation and high-throughput screening of inhibitors against this enzyme. The ability to use the SPA has been facilitated by development of an expression and purification system which yields considerably improved quantities of soluble active recombinant PfNMT compared with previous studies. Specifically, yields of pure protein have been increased from 12 microg x l(-1) to >400 microg x l(-1) by use of a synthetic gene with codon usage optimized for expression in an Escherichia coli host. Preliminary small-scale 'piggyback' inhibitor studies using the SPA have identified a family of related molecules containing a core benzothiazole scaffold with IC50 values <50 microM, which demonstrate selectivity over human NMT1. Two of these compounds, when tested against cultured parasites in vitro, reduced parasitaemia by >80% at a concentration of 10 microM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul W. Bowyer
- *Wellcome Trust Laboratories for Molecular Parasitology, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K
- †Division of Cell and Molecular Biology, Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K
- ‡Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K
| | - Ruwani S. Gunaratne
- §Division of Parasitology, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London NW7 1AA, U.K
| | - Munira Grainger
- §Division of Parasitology, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London NW7 1AA, U.K
| | | | | | - Edward W. Tate
- ‡Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K
| | | | - Katherine A. Brown
- †Division of Cell and Molecular Biology, Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K
| | - Anthony A. Holder
- §Division of Parasitology, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London NW7 1AA, U.K
- Correspondence can be addressed to either of these authors (email or )
| | - Deborah F. Smith
- *Wellcome Trust Laboratories for Molecular Parasitology, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K
- †Division of Cell and Molecular Biology, Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K
- ∥Immunology and Infection Unit, Department of Biology/Hull York Medical School, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5YW, U.K
- Correspondence can be addressed to either of these authors (email or )
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42
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Heal WP, Wickramasinghe SR, Bowyer PW, Holder AA, Smith DF, Leatherbarrow RJ, Tate EW. Site-specific N-terminal labelling of proteins in vitro and in vivo using N-myristoyl transferase and bioorthogonal ligation chemistry. Chem Commun (Camb) 2007:480-2. [PMID: 18188474 DOI: 10.1039/b716115h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
N-Myristoyl transferase-mediated modification with azide-bearing substrates is introduced as a highly selective and practical method for in vitro and in vivo N-terminal labelling of a recombinant protein using bioorthogonal ligation chemistry.
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Affiliation(s)
- William P Heal
- Department of Chemistry, South Kensington Campus, Imperial College, London, UK
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43
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Wu J, Tao Y, Zhang M, Howard MH, Gutteridge S, Ding J. Crystal structures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae N-myristoyltransferase with bound myristoyl-CoA and inhibitors reveal the functional roles of the N-terminal region. J Biol Chem 2007; 282:22185-94. [PMID: 17513302 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m702696200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Protein N-myristoylation catalyzed by myristoyl-CoA:protein N-myristoyltransferase (NMT) plays an important role in a variety of critical cellular processes and thus is an attractive target for development of antifungal drugs. We report here three crystal structures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae NMT: in binary complex with myristoyl-CoA (MYA) alone and in two ternary complexes involving MYA and two different non-peptidic inhibitors. In all three structures, the majority of the N-terminal region, absent in all previously reported structures, forms a well defined motif that is located in the vicinity of the peptide substrate-binding site and is involved in the binding of MYA. The Ab loop, which might be involved in substrate recognition, adopts an open conformation, whereas a loop of the N-terminal region (residues 22-24) that covers the top of the substrate-binding site is in the position occupied by the Ab loop when in the closed conformation. Structural comparisons with other NMTs, together with mutagenesis data, suggest that the N-terminal region of NMT plays an important role in the binding of both MYA and peptide substrate, but not in subsequent steps of the catalytic mechanism. The two inhibitors occupy the peptide substrate-binding site and interact with the protein through primarily hydrophobic contacts. Analyses of the inhibitorenzyme interactions provide valuable information for further improvement of antifungal inhibitors targeting NMT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jian Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
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Mills E, Price HP, Johner A, Emerson JE, Smith DF. Kinetoplastid PPEF phosphatases: dual acylated proteins expressed in the endomembrane system of Leishmania. Mol Biochem Parasitol 2006; 152:22-34. [PMID: 17169445 PMCID: PMC1885993 DOI: 10.1016/j.molbiopara.2006.11.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2006] [Revised: 11/02/2006] [Accepted: 11/14/2006] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
Bioinformatic analyses have been used to identify potential downstream targets of the essential enzyme N-myristoyl transferase in the TriTryp species, Leishmania major, Trypanosoma brucei and Trypanosoma cruzi. These database searches predict ∼60 putative N-myristoylated proteins with high confidence, including both previously characterised and novel molecules. One of the latter is an N-myristoylated protein phosphatase which has high sequence similarity to the Protein Phosphatase with EF-Hand (PPEF) proteins identified in sensory cells of higher eukaryotes. In L. major and T. brucei, the PPEF-like phosphatases are encoded by single-copy genes and are constitutively expressed in all parasite life cycle stages. The N-terminus of LmPPEF is a substrate for N-myristoyl transferase and is also palmitoylated in vivo. The wild type protein has been localised to the endocytic system by immunofluorescence. The catalytic and fused C-terminal domains of the kinetoplastid and other eukaryotic PPEFs share high sequence similarity, but unlike their higher eukaryotic relatives, the C-terminal parasite EF-hand domains are degenerate and do not bind calcium.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Mills
- Wellcome Trust Laboratories for Molecular Parasitology, Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Helen P. Price
- Wellcome Trust Laboratories for Molecular Parasitology, Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
- Immunology and Infection Unit, Department of Biology, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5YW, UK
| | - Andrea Johner
- Immunology and Infection Unit, Department of Biology, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5YW, UK
| | - Jenny E. Emerson
- Wellcome Trust Laboratories for Molecular Parasitology, Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Deborah F. Smith
- Wellcome Trust Laboratories for Molecular Parasitology, Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
- Immunology and Infection Unit, Department of Biology, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5YW, UK
- Corresponding author at: Immunology and Infection Unit, Department of Biology, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5YW, UK. Tel.: +44 1904 328843; fax: +44 1904 328844.
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