First Draft Genome of the Trypanosomatid Herpetomonas muscarum ingenoplastis through MinION Oxford Nanopore Technology and Illumina Sequencing

Here, we present first draft genome sequence of the trypanosomatid Herpetomonas muscarum ingenoplastis. This parasite was isolated repeatedly in the black blowfly, Phormia regina, and it forms a phylogenetically distinct clade in the Trypanosomatidae family.

Docking simulation between HIV peptidase inhibitors and Trypanosoma cruzi aspartyl peptidase

Objective

The low investment in research, diagnosis and treatment are factors that contribute to the continuity of Chagas’ disease as a neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). In this context, the repositioning of drugs represents a useful strategy, in the search for new chemotherapeutic approaches for NTDs. HIV aspartic peptidase inhibitors (HIV IPs) are good candidates for drug repurposing. Here, we modeled the three dimensional structure of an aspartyl peptidase of Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas’ disease, aligned it to the HIV aspartyl peptidase and performed docking binding assays with the HIV PIs.

Results

The 3D structure confirmed the presence of acid aspartic residues, which are critical to enzyme activity. The docking experiment revealed that HIV IPs bind to the active site of the enzyme, being ritonavir and lopinavir the ones with greater affinity. Benznidazole presented the worst binding affinity, this drug is currently used in Chagas’ disease treatment and was included as negative control. These results together with previous data on the trypanocidal effect of the HIV PIs support the hypothesis that a T. cruzi aspartyl peptidase can be the intracellular target of these inhibitors. However, the direct demonstration of the inhibition of T. cruzi aspartyl peptidase activity by HIV PIs is still a goal to be persuaded.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s13104-018-3927-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.