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das Neves MA, do Nascimento JR, Maciel-Silva VL, Dos Santos AM, Junior JDJGV, Coelho AJS, Lima MIS, Pereira SRF, da Rocha CQ. Anti-Leishmania activity and molecular docking of unusual flavonoids-rich fraction from Arrabidaea brachypoda (Bignoniaceae). Mol Biochem Parasitol 2024; 259:111629. [PMID: 38750697 DOI: 10.1016/j.molbiopara.2024.111629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Revised: 04/30/2024] [Accepted: 05/09/2024] [Indexed: 05/20/2024]
Abstract
Leishmaniases comprise a group of infectious parasitic diseases caused by various species of Leishmania and are considered a significant public health problem worldwide. Only a few medications, including miltefosine, amphotericin B, and meglumine antimonate, are used in current therapy. These medications are associated with severe side effects, low efficacy, high cost, and the need for hospital support. Additionally, there have been occurrences of drug resistance. Additionally, only a limited number of drugs, such as meglumine antimonate, amphotericin B, and miltefosine, are available, all of which are associated with severe side effects. In this context, the need for new effective drugs with fewer adverse effects is evident. Therefore, this study investigated the anti-Leishmania activity of a dichloromethane fraction (DCMF) extracted from Arrabidaea brachypoda roots. This fraction inhibited the viability of L. infantum, L. braziliensis, and L. Mexicana promastigotes, with IC50 values of 10.13, 11.44, and 11.16 µg/mL, respectively, and against L. infantum amastigotes (IC50 = 4.81 µg/mL). Moreover, the DCMF exhibited moderate cytotoxicity (CC50 = 25.15) towards RAW264.7 macrophages, with a selectivity index (SI) of 5.2. Notably, the DCMF caused damage to the macrophage genome only at 40 µg/mL, which is greater than the IC50 found for all Leishmania species. The results suggest that DCMF demonstrates similar antileishmanial effectiveness to isolated brachydin B, without causing genotoxic effects on mammalian cells. This finding is crucial because the isolation of the compounds relies on several steps and is very costly while obtaining the DCMF fraction is a simple and cost-effective process. Furthermore, In addition, the potential mechanisms of action of brachydins were also investigated. The computational analysis indicates that brachydin compounds bind to the Triosephosphate isomerase (TIM) enzyme via two main mechanisms: destabilizing the interface between the homodimers and interacting with catalytic residues situated at the site of binding. Based on all the results, DCMF exhibits promise as a therapeutic agent for leishmaniasis due to its significantly reduced toxicity in comparison to the adverse effects associated with current reference treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica A das Neves
- UFMA-Federal University of Maranhão, Center for Exact Sciences and Technology (CCET), Post Graduate Program in Chemistry, São Luís CEP 65080-805, Brazil
| | - Jessyane R do Nascimento
- UNESP, São Paulo State University Júlio de Mesquita Filho, Institute of Chemistry, Post Graduate Program in Chemistry, Araraquara CEP 14800-060, Brazil
| | - Vera Lucia Maciel-Silva
- UEMA, Maranhão State University, Center for Education, Exact and Natural Sciences (CECEN), Department of Biology, CEP: 65055-310, São Luís, Brazil
| | - Alberto M Dos Santos
- UNICAMP - University of Campinas, Institute of Chemistry and Center for Computer in Engineering and Sciences, Campinas CEP 13084-862, Brazil
| | | | - Ana Jessica S Coelho
- UFMA-Federal University of Maranhão, Laboratory of Genetics and Molecular Biology, Department of Biology, São Luís CEP 65080-805, Brazil
| | - Mayara Ingrid S Lima
- UFMA-Federal University of Maranhão, Laboratory of Genetics and Molecular Biology, Department of Biology, São Luís CEP 65080-805, Brazil
| | - Silma Regina F Pereira
- UFMA-Federal University of Maranhão, Laboratory of Genetics and Molecular Biology, Department of Biology, São Luís CEP 65080-805, Brazil
| | - Cláudia Q da Rocha
- UFMA-Federal University of Maranhão, Center for Exact Sciences and Technology (CCET), Post Graduate Program in Chemistry, São Luís CEP 65080-805, Brazil.
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Juarez-Saldivar A, Gómez-Escobedo R, Corral-Ruiz G, Chacón-Vargas KF, Horta-Montaño V, Sanchez-Torres L, Vazquez-Jimenez LK, Nogueda-Torres B, Rivera G. Repositioning FDA-Approved Drug Against Chagas Disease and Cutaneous Leishmaniosis by Structure-Based Virtual Screening. Arch Med Res 2024; 55:102958. [PMID: 38290200 DOI: 10.1016/j.arcmed.2024.102958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2023] [Revised: 12/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/11/2024] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Chagas disease and cutaneous leishmaniasis, two parasitic diseases caused by Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi) and Leishmania mexicana (L. mexicana), respectively, have a major global impact. Current pharmacological treatments for these diseases are limited and can cause severe side effects; thus, there is a need for new antiprotozoal drugs. METHODS Using molecular docking, this work describes a structure-based virtual screening of an FDA-approved drug library against Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania mexicana glycolytic enzyme triosephosphate isomerase (TIM), which is highly conserved in these parasites. The selected compounds with potential dual inhibitory activity were tested in vitro to confirm their biological activity. RESULTS The study showed that five compounds: nilotinib, chlorhexidine, protriptyline, cyproheptadine, and montelukast, were more active against T. cruzi, than the reference drugs, nifurtimox and benznidazole while chlorhexidine and protriptyline were the most active against L. mexicana. CONCLUSIONS The analysis of these compounds and their structural characteristics may provide the basis for the development of new antiprotozoal agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alfredo Juarez-Saldivar
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico; Unidad Academica Multidisciplinaria Reynosa-Aztlan, Universidad Autonoma de Tamaulipas, Reynosa, Mexico
| | - Rogelio Gómez-Escobedo
- Parasitology Department, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Gerardo Corral-Ruiz
- Microorganism Inmunology Laboratory, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Karla Fabiola Chacón-Vargas
- Microorganism Inmunology Laboratory, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico; Faculty of Chemical Sciences, Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico
| | - Vanessa Horta-Montaño
- Parasitology Department, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico; Microorganism Inmunology Laboratory, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Luvia Sanchez-Torres
- Microorganism Inmunology Laboratory, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Lenci K Vazquez-Jimenez
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico
| | - Benjamín Nogueda-Torres
- Parasitology Department, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Gildardo Rivera
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico.
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3
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Galceran F, Digirolamo FA, Rengifo M, Reigada C, Saye M, Maciel BJ, Estecho IG, Errasti AE, Pereira CA, Miranda MR. Identifying inhibitors of Trypanosoma cruzi nucleoside diphosphate kinase 1 as potential repurposed drugs for Chagas' disease. Biochem Pharmacol 2023; 216:115766. [PMID: 37634596 DOI: 10.1016/j.bcp.2023.115766] [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: 05/30/2023] [Revised: 08/22/2023] [Accepted: 08/22/2023] [Indexed: 08/29/2023]
Abstract
Trypanosoma cruzi is the causative agent of Chagas' disease, an endemic and neglected disease. The treatment is limited to only two drugs, benznidazole (BZL) and nifurtimox (NFX), introduced more than fifty years ago and no new advances have been made since then. Nucleoside diphosphate kinases (NDPK) are key metabolic enzymes which have gained interest as drug targets of pathogen organisms. Taking advantage of the computer-assisted drug repurposing approaches, in the present work we initiate a search of potential T. cruzi nucleoside diphosphate kinase 1 (TcNDPK1) inhibitors over an ∼ 12,000 compound structures database to find drugs targeted to this enzyme with trypanocidal activity. Four medicines were selected and evaluated in vitro, ketorolac (KET, an anti-inflamatory), dutasteride (DUT, used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia), nebivolol and telmisartan (NEB and TEL, used to treat high blood pressure). The four compounds were weak inhibitors and presented different trypanocidal effect on epimastigotes, trypomastigotes and intracellular stages. NEB and TEL were the most active drugs with increased effect on intracellular stages, (IC50 = 2.25 µM and 13.21 µM respectively), and selectivity indexes of 13.01 and 8.59 respectively, showing comparable effect to BZL, the first line drug for Chagas' disease treatment. In addition, both presented positive interactions when combined with BZL. Finally, transgenic epimastigotes with increased expression of TcNDPK1 were more resistant to TEL and NEB, suggesting that TcNDPK1 is at least one of the molecular targets. In view of the results, NEB and TEL could be repurposed medicines for Chagas' disease therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Facundo Galceran
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Medicina, Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas A. Lanari, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas (IDIM), Laboratorio de Parasitología Molecular, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Fabio A Digirolamo
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Medicina, Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas A. Lanari, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas (IDIM), Laboratorio de Parasitología Molecular, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Marcos Rengifo
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Medicina, Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas A. Lanari, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas (IDIM), Laboratorio de Parasitología Molecular, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Chantal Reigada
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Medicina, Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas A. Lanari, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas (IDIM), Laboratorio de Parasitología Molecular, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Melisa Saye
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Medicina, Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas A. Lanari, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas (IDIM), Laboratorio de Parasitología Molecular, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Belen J Maciel
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Medicina, Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas A. Lanari, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas (IDIM), Laboratorio de Parasitología Molecular, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Ivana G Estecho
- Instituto de Farmacología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Andrea E Errasti
- Instituto de Farmacología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Claudio A Pereira
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Medicina, Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas A. Lanari, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas (IDIM), Laboratorio de Parasitología Molecular, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Mariana R Miranda
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Medicina, Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas A. Lanari, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas (IDIM), Laboratorio de Parasitología Molecular, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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González-Morales LD, Moreno-Rodríguez A, Vázquez-Jiménez LK, Delgado-Maldonado T, Juárez-Saldivar A, Ortiz-Pérez E, Paz-Gonzalez AD, Lara-Ramírez EE, Yépez-Mulia L, Meza P, Rivera G. Triose Phosphate Isomerase Structure-Based Virtual Screening and In Vitro Biological Activity of Natural Products as Leishmania mexicana Inhibitors. Pharmaceutics 2023; 15:2046. [PMID: 37631260 PMCID: PMC10458937 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics15082046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2023] [Revised: 07/25/2023] [Accepted: 07/27/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a public health problem affecting more than 98 countries worldwide. No vaccine is available to prevent the disease, and available medical treatments cause serious side effects. Additionally, treatment failure and parasite resistance have made the development of new drugs against CL necessary. In this work, a virtual screening of natural products from the BIOFACQUIM and Selleckchem databases was performed using the method of molecular docking at the triosephosphate isomerase (TIM) enzyme interface of Leishmania mexicana (L. mexicana). Finally, the in vitro leishmanicidal activity of selected compounds against two strains of L. mexicana, their cytotoxicity, and selectivity index were determined. The top ten compounds were obtained based on the docking results. Four were selected for further in silico analysis. The ADME-Tox analysis of the selected compounds predicted favorable physicochemical and toxicological properties. Among these four compounds, S-8 (IC50 = 55 µM) demonstrated a two-fold higher activity against the promastigote of both L. mexicana strains than the reference drug glucantime (IC50 = 133 µM). This finding encourages the screening of natural products as new anti-leishmania agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis D. González-Morales
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Reynosa 88710, Mexico; (L.D.G.-M.); (A.J.-S.); (E.O.-P.); (E.E.L.-R.)
| | - Adriana Moreno-Rodríguez
- Laboratorio de Estudios Epidemiológicos, Clínicos, Diseños Experimentales e Investigación, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Autónoma “Benito Juárez” de Oaxaca, Avenida Universidad S/N, Ex Hacienda Cinco Señores, Oaxaca 68120, Mexico;
| | - Lenci K. Vázquez-Jiménez
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Reynosa 88710, Mexico; (L.D.G.-M.); (A.J.-S.); (E.O.-P.); (E.E.L.-R.)
| | - Timoteo Delgado-Maldonado
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Reynosa 88710, Mexico; (L.D.G.-M.); (A.J.-S.); (E.O.-P.); (E.E.L.-R.)
| | - Alfredo Juárez-Saldivar
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Reynosa 88710, Mexico; (L.D.G.-M.); (A.J.-S.); (E.O.-P.); (E.E.L.-R.)
| | - Eyra Ortiz-Pérez
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Reynosa 88710, Mexico; (L.D.G.-M.); (A.J.-S.); (E.O.-P.); (E.E.L.-R.)
| | - Alma D. Paz-Gonzalez
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Reynosa 88710, Mexico; (L.D.G.-M.); (A.J.-S.); (E.O.-P.); (E.E.L.-R.)
| | - Edgar E. Lara-Ramírez
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Reynosa 88710, Mexico; (L.D.G.-M.); (A.J.-S.); (E.O.-P.); (E.E.L.-R.)
| | - Lilian Yépez-Mulia
- Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Infecciosas y Parasitarias-Pediatría, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Mexico City 06720, Mexico
| | - Patricia Meza
- Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Infecciosas y Parasitarias-Pediatría, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Mexico City 06720, Mexico
| | - Gildardo Rivera
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Reynosa 88710, Mexico; (L.D.G.-M.); (A.J.-S.); (E.O.-P.); (E.E.L.-R.)
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5
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Porta EOJ, Kalesh K, Steel PG. Navigating drug repurposing for Chagas disease: advances, challenges, and opportunities. Front Pharmacol 2023; 14:1233253. [PMID: 37576826 PMCID: PMC10416112 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1233253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 07/18/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Chagas disease is a vector-borne illness caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi). It poses a significant public health burden, particularly in the poorest regions of Latin America. Currently, there is no available vaccine, and chemotherapy has been the traditional treatment for Chagas disease. However, the treatment options are limited to just two outdated medicines, nifurtimox and benznidazole, which have serious side effects and low efficacy, especially during the chronic phase of the disease. Collectively, this has led the World Health Organization to classify it as a neglected disease. To address this problem, new drug regimens are urgently needed. Drug repurposing, which involves the use of existing drugs already approved for the treatment of other diseases, represents an increasingly important option. This approach offers potential cost reduction in new drug discovery processes and can address pharmaceutical bottlenecks in the development of drugs for Chagas disease. In this review, we discuss the state-of-the-art of drug repurposing approaches, including combination therapy with existing drugs, to overcome the formidable challenges associated with treating Chagas disease. Organized by original therapeutic area, we describe significant recent advances, as well as the challenges in this field. In particular, we identify candidates that exhibit potential for heightened efficacy and reduced toxicity profiles with the ultimate objective of accelerating the development of new, safe, and effective treatments for Chagas disease.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Karunakaran Kalesh
- School of Health and Life Sciences, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, United Kingdom
- National Horizons Centre, Darlington, United Kingdom
| | - Patrick G. Steel
- Department of Chemistry, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
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Kumbhar N, Nimal S, Patil D, Kaiser VF, Haupt J, Gacche RN. Repurposing of neprilysin inhibitor 'sacubitrilat' as an anti-cancer drug by modulating epigenetic and apoptotic regulators. Sci Rep 2023; 13:9952. [PMID: 37336927 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-36872-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2023] [Accepted: 06/12/2023] [Indexed: 06/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Modifications in the epigenetic landscape have been considered a hallmark of cancer. Histone deacetylation is one of the crucial epigenetic modulations associated with the aggressive progression of various cancer subtypes. Herein, we have repurposed the neprilysin inhibitor sacubitrilat as a potent anticancer agent using in-silico protein-ligand interaction profiler (PLIP) analysis, molecular docking, and in vitro studies. The screening of PLIP profiles between vorinostat/panobinostat and HDACs/LTA4H followed by molecular docking resulted in five (Sacubitrilat, B65, BDS, BIR, and NPV) FDA-approved, experimental and investigational drugs. Sacubitrilat has demonstrated promising anticancer activity against colorectal cancer (SW-480) and triple-negative breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) cells, with IC50 values of 14.07 μg/mL and 23.02 μg/mL, respectively. FACS analysis revealed that sacubitrilat arrests the cell cycle at the G0/G1 phase and induces apoptotic-mediated cell death in SW-480 cells. In addition, sacubitrilat inhibited HDAC isoforms at the transcriptomic level by 0.7-0.9 fold and at the proteomic level by 0.5-0.6 fold as compared to the control. Sacubitrilat increased the protein expression of tumor-suppressor (p53) and pro-apoptotic makers (Bax and Bid) by 0.2-2.5 fold while decreasing the expression of anti-apoptotic Bcl2 and Nrf2 proteins by 0.2-0.5 fold with respect to control. The observed cleaved PARP product indicates that sacubitrilat induces apoptotic-mediated cell death. This study may pave the way to identify the anticancer potential of sacubitrilat and can be explored in human clinical trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Navanath Kumbhar
- Department of Biotechnology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, Maharashtra (MS), 411007, India
| | - Snehal Nimal
- Department of Biotechnology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, Maharashtra (MS), 411007, India
| | - Deeksha Patil
- Department of Microbiology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, Maharashtra (MS), 411007, India
| | | | | | - Rajesh N Gacche
- Department of Biotechnology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, Maharashtra (MS), 411007, India.
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Gabaldón-Figueira JC, Martinez-Peinado N, Escabia E, Ros-Lucas A, Chatelain E, Scandale I, Gascon J, Pinazo MJ, Alonso-Padilla J. State-of-the-Art in the Drug Discovery Pathway for Chagas Disease: A Framework for Drug Development and Target Validation. Res Rep Trop Med 2023; 14:1-19. [PMID: 37337597 PMCID: PMC10277022 DOI: 10.2147/rrtm.s415273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2023] [Accepted: 06/03/2023] [Indexed: 06/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Chagas disease is the most important protozoan infection in the Americas, and constitutes a significant public health concern throughout the world. Development of new medications against its etiologic agent, Trypanosoma cruzi, has been traditionally slow and difficult, lagging in comparison with diseases caused by other kinetoplastid parasites. Among the factors that explain this are the incompletely understood mechanisms of pathogenesis of T. cruzi infection and its complex set of interactions with the host in the chronic stage of the disease. These demand the performance of a variety of in vitro and in vivo assays as part of any drug development effort. In this review, we discuss recent breakthroughs in the understanding of the parasite's life cycle and their implications in the search for new chemotherapeutics. For this, we present a framework to guide drug discovery efforts against Chagas disease, considering state-of-the-art preclinical models and recently developed tools for the identification and validation of molecular targets.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Nieves Martinez-Peinado
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Hospital Clínic—University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Elisa Escabia
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Hospital Clínic—University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Albert Ros-Lucas
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Hospital Clínic—University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CIBERINFEC, ISCIII), Madrid, Spain
| | - Eric Chatelain
- Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Ivan Scandale
- Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Joaquim Gascon
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Hospital Clínic—University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CIBERINFEC, ISCIII), Madrid, Spain
| | - María-Jesús Pinazo
- CIBER de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CIBERINFEC, ISCIII), Madrid, Spain
- Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Julio Alonso-Padilla
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Hospital Clínic—University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CIBERINFEC, ISCIII), Madrid, Spain
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8
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González-González A, Méndez-Álvarez D, Vázquez-Jiménez LK, Delgado-Maldonado T, Ortiz-Pérez E, Paz-González AD, Bandyopadhyay D, Rivera G. Molecular docking and dynamic simulations of quinoxaline 1,4-di-N-oxide as inhibitors for targets from Trypanosoma cruzi, Trichomonas vaginalis, and Fasciola hepatica. J Mol Model 2023; 29:180. [PMID: 37195391 DOI: 10.1007/s00894-023-05579-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2022] [Accepted: 05/02/2023] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
CONTEXT Quinoxaline 1,4-di-N-oxide is a scaffold with a wide array of biological activities, particularly its use to develop new antiparasitic agents. Recently, these compounds have been described as trypanothione reductase (TR), triosephosphate isomerase (TIM), and cathepsin-L (CatL) inhibitors from Trypanosoma cruzi, Trichomonas vaginalis, and Fasciola hepatica, respectively. METHODS Therefore, the main objective of this work was to analyze quinoxaline 1,4-di-N-oxide derivatives of two databases (ZINC15 and PubChem) and literature by molecular docking, dynamic simulation and complemented by MMPBSA, and contact analysis of molecular dynamics' trajectory on the active site of the enzymes to know their potential effect inhibitory. Interestingly, compounds Lit_C777 and Zn_C38 show preference as potential TcTR inhibitors over HsGR, with favorable energy contributions from residues including Pro398 and Leu399 from Z-site, Glu467 from γ-Glu site, and His461, part of the catalytic triad. Compound Lit_C208 shows potential selective inhibition against TvTIM over HsTIM, with favorable energy contributions toward TvTIM catalytic dyad, but away from HsTIM catalytic dyad. Compound Lit_C388 was most stable in FhCatL with a higher calculated binding energy by MMPBSA analysis than HsCatL, though not interacting with catalytic dyad, holding favorable energy contribution from residues oriented at FhCatL catalytic dyad. Therefore, these kinds of compounds are good candidates to continue researching and confirming their activity through in vitro studies as new selective antiparasitic agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alonzo González-González
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 88710, Reynosa, México
| | - Domingo Méndez-Álvarez
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 88710, Reynosa, México
| | - Lenci K Vázquez-Jiménez
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 88710, Reynosa, México
| | - Timoteo Delgado-Maldonado
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 88710, Reynosa, México
| | - Eyra Ortiz-Pérez
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 88710, Reynosa, México
| | - Alma D Paz-González
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 88710, Reynosa, México
| | - Debasish Bandyopadhyay
- Department of Chemistry and SEEMS, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, TX, 78539, USA
| | - Gildardo Rivera
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 88710, Reynosa, México.
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9
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Panecka-Hofman J, Poehner I, Wade R. Anti-trypanosomatid structure-based drug design - lessons learned from targeting the folate pathway. Expert Opin Drug Discov 2022; 17:1029-1045. [PMID: 36073204 DOI: 10.1080/17460441.2022.2113776] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Trypanosomatidic parasitic infections of humans and animals caused by Trypanosoma brucei, Trypanosoma cruzi, and Leishmania species pose a significant health and economic burden in developing countries. There are few effective and accessible treatments for these diseases, and the existing therapies suffer from problems such as parasite resistance and side effects. Structure-based drug design (SBDD) is one of the strategies that has been applied to discover new compounds targeting trypanosomatid-borne diseases. AREAS COVERED We review the current literature (mostly over the last 5 years, searched in PubMed database on Nov 11th 2021) on the application of structure-based drug design approaches to identify new anti-trypanosomatidic compounds that interfere with a validated target biochemical pathway, the trypanosomatid folate pathway. EXPERT OPINION The application of structure-based drug design approaches to perturb the trypanosomatid folate pathway has successfully provided many new inhibitors with good selectivity profiles, most of which are natural products or their derivatives or have scaffolds of known drugs. However, the inhibitory effect against the target protein(s) often does not translate to anti-parasitic activity. Further progress is hampered by our incomplete understanding of parasite biology and biochemistry, which is necessary to complement SBDD in a multiparameter optimization approach to discovering selective anti-parasitic drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanna Panecka-Hofman
- Division of Biophysics, Institute of Experimental Physics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 5a, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Ina Poehner
- School of Pharmacy, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Yliopistonranta 1C, PO Box 1627, FI-70211 Kuopio, Finland
| | - Rebecca Wade
- Center for Molecular Biology (ZMBH), Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 282, Heidelberg 69120, Germany.,Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS), Schloß-Wolfsbrunnenweg 35, Heidelberg 69118, Germany.,DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance and Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR), Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 205, Heidelberg 69120, Germany
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10
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Examination of multiple Trypanosoma cruzi targets in a new drug discovery approach for Chagas disease. Bioorg Med Chem 2022; 58:116577. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2021.116577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2021] [Revised: 12/10/2021] [Accepted: 12/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
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11
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Vázquez-Jiménez LK, Moreno-Herrera A, Juárez-Saldivar A, González-González A, Ortiz-Pérez E, Paz-González AD, Palos-Pizarro I, Ramírez-Moreno E, Rivera G. Recent Advances in the Development of Triose Phosphate Isomerase Inhibitors as Antiprotozoal Agents. Curr Med Chem 2021; 29:2504-2529. [PMID: 34517794 DOI: 10.2174/0929867328666210913090928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2021] [Revised: 07/10/2021] [Accepted: 07/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Parasitic diseases caused by protozoa such as Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, malaria, African trypanosomiasis, amebiasis, trichomoniasis, and giardiasis are considered serious public health problems in developing countries. Drug-resistance among parasites justifies the search for new therapeutic drugs and the identification of new targets becomes a valuable approach. In this scenario, glycolysis pathway which consists of the conversion of glucose into pyruvate plays an important role in the protozoa energy supply and it is therefore considered as a promising target. In this pathway, triose phosphate isomerase (TIM) plays an essential role in efficient energy production. Furthermore, protozoa TIM show structural differences with human enzyme counterparts suggesting the possibility of obtaining selective inhibitors. Therefore, TIM is considered a valid approach to develop new antiprotozoal agents, inhibiting the glycolysis in the parasite. OBJECTIVE In this review, we discuss the drug design strategies, structure-activity relationship, and binding modes of outstanding TIM inhibitors against Trypanosoma cruzi, Trypanosoma brucei, Plasmodium falciparum, Giardia lamblia, Leishmania mexicana, Trichomonas vaginalis, and Entamoeba histolytica. RESULTS TIM inhibitors showed mainly aromatic systems and symmetrical structure, where the size and type of heteroatom are important for enzyme inhibition. This inhibition is mainly based on the interaction with i) the interfacial region of TIM inducing changes on the quaternary and tertiary structure or ii) with the TIM catalytic region were the main pathways that disabled the catalytic activity of the enzyme. CONCLUSION Benzothiazole, benzoxazole, benzimidazole, and sulfhydryl derivatives stand out as TIM inhibitors. In silico and in vitro studies demonstrate that the inhibitors bind mainly at the TIM dimer interface. In this review, the development of new TIM inhibitors as antiprotozoal drugs is demonstrated as an important pharmaceutical strategy that may lead to new therapies for these ancient parasitic diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lenci K Vázquez-Jiménez
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 88710 Reynosa. Mexico
| | - Antonio Moreno-Herrera
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 88710 Reynosa. Mexico
| | - Alfredo Juárez-Saldivar
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 88710 Reynosa. Mexico
| | - Alonzo González-González
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 88710 Reynosa. Mexico
| | - Eyra Ortiz-Pérez
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 88710 Reynosa. Mexico
| | - Alma D Paz-González
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 88710 Reynosa. Mexico
| | - Isidro Palos-Pizarro
- Unidad Académica Multidisciplinaria Reynosa-Rodhe, Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, 88779 Reynosa. Mexico
| | - Esther Ramírez-Moreno
- Escuela Nacional de Medicina y Homeopatía, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 07320 Ciudad de México. Mexico
| | - Gildardo Rivera
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 88710 Reynosa. Mexico
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12
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Zheng Y, Wu Z. Cascade Deep Forest With Heterogeneous Similarity Measures for Drug-Target Interaction Prediction. Front Genet 2021; 12:702259. [PMID: 34504515 PMCID: PMC8421679 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2021.702259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2021] [Accepted: 05/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Drug repositioning is a method of systematically identifying potential molecular targets that known drugs may act on. Compared with traditional methods, drug repositioning has been extensively studied due to the development of multi-omics technology and system biology methods. Because of its biological network properties, it is possible to apply machine learning related algorithms for prediction. Based on various heterogeneous network model, this paper proposes a method named THNCDF for predicting drug-target interactions. Various heterogeneous networks are integrated to build a tripartite network, and similarity calculation methods are used to obtain similarity matrix. Then, the cascade deep forest method is used to make prediction. Results indicate that THNCDF outperforms the previously reported methods based on the 10-fold cross-validation on the benchmark data sets proposed by Y. Yamanishi. The area under Precision Recall curve (AUPR) value on the Enzyme, GPCR, Ion Channel, and Nuclear Receptor data sets is 0.988, 0.980, 0.938, and 0.906 separately. The experimental results well illustrate the feasibility of this method.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Zheng
- School of Computer & Communication Engineering, Changsha University of Science & Technology, Changsha, China
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13
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Kourbeli V, Chontzopoulou E, Moschovou K, Pavlos D, Mavromoustakos T, Papanastasiou IP. An Overview on Target-Based Drug Design against Kinetoplastid Protozoan Infections: Human African Trypanosomiasis, Chagas Disease and Leishmaniases. Molecules 2021; 26:molecules26154629. [PMID: 34361781 PMCID: PMC8348971 DOI: 10.3390/molecules26154629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2021] [Revised: 07/23/2021] [Accepted: 07/27/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The protozoan diseases Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT), Chagas disease (CD), and leishmaniases span worldwide and therefore their impact is a universal concern. The present regimen against kinetoplastid protozoan infections is poor and insufficient. Target-based design expands the horizon of drug design and development and offers novel chemical entities and potential drug candidates to the therapeutic arsenal against the aforementioned neglected diseases. In this review, we report the most promising targets of the main kinetoplastid parasites, as well as their corresponding inhibitors. This overview is part of the Special Issue, entitled "Advances of Medicinal Chemistry against Kinetoplastid Protozoa (Trypanosoma brucei, Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania spp.) Infections: Drug Design, Synthesis and Pharmacology".
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Affiliation(s)
- Violeta Kourbeli
- Department of Pharmacy, Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli-Zografou, 157 84 Athens, Greece;
| | - Eleni Chontzopoulou
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli-Zografou, 157 71 Athens, Greece; (E.C.); (K.M.); (D.P.); (T.M.)
| | - Kalliopi Moschovou
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli-Zografou, 157 71 Athens, Greece; (E.C.); (K.M.); (D.P.); (T.M.)
| | - Dimitrios Pavlos
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli-Zografou, 157 71 Athens, Greece; (E.C.); (K.M.); (D.P.); (T.M.)
| | - Thomas Mavromoustakos
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli-Zografou, 157 71 Athens, Greece; (E.C.); (K.M.); (D.P.); (T.M.)
| | - Ioannis P. Papanastasiou
- Department of Pharmacy, Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli-Zografou, 157 84 Athens, Greece;
- Correspondence:
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Virtual Screening of FDA-Approved Drugs against Triose Phosphate Isomerase from Entamoeba histolytica and Giardia lamblia Identifies Inhibitors of Their Trophozoite Growth Phase. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms22115943. [PMID: 34073021 PMCID: PMC8198924 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22115943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2021] [Revised: 05/15/2021] [Accepted: 05/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Infectious diseases caused by intestinal protozoan, such as Entamoeba histolytica (E. histolytica) and Giardia lamblia (G. lamblia) are a worldwide public health issue. They affect more than 70 million people every year. They colonize intestines causing primarily diarrhea; nevertheless, these infections can lead to more serious complications. The treatment of choice, metronidazole, is in doubt due to adverse effects and resistance. Therefore, there is a need for new compounds against these parasites. In this work, a structure-based virtual screening of FDA-approved drugs was performed to identify compounds with antiprotozoal activity. The glycolytic enzyme triosephosphate isomerase, present in both E. histolytica and G. lamblia, was used as the drug target. The compounds with the best average docking score on both structures were selected for the in vitro evaluation. Three compounds, chlorhexidine, tolcapone, and imatinib, were capable of inhibit growth on G. lamblia trophozoites (0.05–4.935 μg/mL), while folic acid showed activity against E. histolytica (0.186 μg/mL) and G. lamblia (5.342 μg/mL).
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Repositioned Drugs for Chagas Disease Unveiled via Structure-Based Drug Repositioning. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:ijms21228809. [PMID: 33233837 PMCID: PMC7699892 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21228809] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2020] [Revised: 11/08/2020] [Accepted: 11/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Chagas disease, caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, affects millions of people in South America. The current treatments are limited, have severe side effects, and are only partially effective. Drug repositioning, defined as finding new indications for already approved drugs, has the potential to provide new therapeutic options for Chagas. In this work, we conducted a structure-based drug repositioning approach with over 130,000 3D protein structures to identify drugs that bind therapeutic Chagas targets and thus represent potential new Chagas treatments. The screening yielded over 500 molecules as hits, out of which 38 drugs were prioritized following a rigorous filtering process. About half of the latter were already known to have trypanocidal activity, while the others are novel to Chagas disease. Three of the new drug candidates—ciprofloxacin, naproxen, and folic acid—showed a growth inhibitory activity in the micromolar range when tested ex vivo on T. cruzi trypomastigotes, validating the prediction. We show that our drug repositioning approach is able to pinpoint relevant drug candidates at a fraction of the time and cost of a conventional screening. Furthermore, our results demonstrate the power and potential of structure-based drug repositioning in the context of neglected tropical diseases where the pharmaceutical industry has little financial interest in the development of new drugs.
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A Trypsin Inhibitor from Moringa oleifera Flowers Modulates the Immune Response In Vitro of Trypanosoma cruzi-Infected Human Cells. Antibiotics (Basel) 2020; 9:antibiotics9080515. [PMID: 32823803 PMCID: PMC7460158 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics9080515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2020] [Revised: 08/07/2020] [Accepted: 08/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Trypanosoma cruzi causes the lethal Chagas disease, which is endemic in Latin America. Flowers of Moringa oleifera (Moringaceae) express a trypsin inhibitor (MoFTI) whose toxicity to T. cruzi trypomastigotes was previously reported. Here, we studied the effects of MoFTI on the viability of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) as well as on the production of cytokines and nitric oxide (NO) by T. cruzi-infected PBMCs. Incubation with MoFTI (trypsin inhibitory activity: 62 U/mg) led to lysis of trypomastigotes (LC50 of 43.5 µg/mL) but did not affect the viability of PBMCs when tested at concentrations up to 500 µg/mL. A selectivity index > 11.48 was determined. When T. cruzi-infected PBMCs were treated with MoFTI (43.5 or 87.0 µg/mL), the release of the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α and INF-γ, as well as of NO, was stimulated. The release of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 also increased. In conclusion, the toxicity to T. cruzi and the production of IL-10 by infected PBMCs treated with MoFTI suggest that this molecule may be able to control parasitemia while regulating the inflammation, preventing the progress of Chagas disease. The data reported here stimulate future investigations concerning the in vivo effects of MoFTI on immune response in Chagas disease.
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