The anti-influenza virus drug rimantadine has trypanocidal activity.
(1/682)
We report here that bloodstream forms of the African trypanosome, Trypanosoma brucei, are sensitive to the anti-influenza virus drug rimantadine (50% inhibitory concentration of 1.26 micrograms ml-1 at pH 7.4). The activity is pH dependent and is consistent with a mechanism involving inhibition of the ability to regulate internal pH. Rimantadine is also toxic to the trypanosomatid parasites Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania major. (+info)
Structure-based design of submicromolar, biologically active inhibitors of trypanosomatid glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase.
(2/682)
The bloodstream stage of Trypanosoma brucei and probably the intracellular (amastigote) stage of Trypanosoma cruzi derive all of their energy from glycolysis. Inhibiting glycolytic enzymes may be a novel approach for the development of antitrypanosomatid drugs provided that sufficient parasite versus host selectivity can be obtained. Guided by the crystal structures of human, T. brucei, and Leishmania mexicana glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, we designed adenosine analogs as tight binding inhibitors that occupy the pocket on the enzyme that accommodates the adenosyl moiety of the NAD+ cosubstrate. Although adenosine is a very poor inhibitor, IC50 approximately 50 mM, addition of substituents to the 2' position of ribose and the N6-position of adenosine led to disubstituted nucleosides with micromolar to submicromolar potency in glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase assays, an improvement of 5 orders of magnitude over the lead. The designed compounds do not inhibit the human glycolytic enzyme when tested up to their solubility limit (approximately 40 microM). When tested against cultured bloodstream T. brucei and intracellular T. cruzi, N6-(1-naphthalenemethyl)-2'-(3-chlorobenzamido)adenosine inhibited growth in the low micromolar range. Within minutes after adding this compound to bloodstream T. brucei, production of glucose-derived pyruvate ceased, parasite motility was lost, and a mixture of grossly deformed and lysed parasites was observed. These studies underscore the feasibility of using structure-based drug design to transform a mediocre lead compound into a potent enzyme inhibitor. They also suggest that energy production can be blocked in trypanosomatids with a tight binding competitive inhibitor of an enzyme in the glycolytic pathway. (+info)
Treatment of experimental leishmaniasis with the immunomodulators imiquimod and S-28463: efficacy and mode of action.
(3/682)
There is a need for new, effective, and less toxic treatments for leishmaniasis, an infectious disease caused by Leishmania protozoa and is a major cause of suffering and morbidity in much of the developing world. Imiquimod, an immune-response modifier, has recently been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of genital warts caused by human papillomaviruses. Imiquimod initiates a local immune reaction, including the stimulation of macrophages, resulting in resolution of human papillomavirus infection and regression of the viral lesion. Since imiquimod activates a number of immune cells, including macrophages, which are the only host cells of Leishmania species, an investigation was done to determine whether it induces leishmanicidal properties in infected macrophages in vitro and in vivo in a mouse model. Imiquimod and a related compound, S-28463, effectively stimulated leishmanicidal activity in macrophages; moreover, imiquimod stimulated signal transduction associated with inducing nitric oxide synthesis in macrophages. (+info)
Clearance of trypanosomes from the blood of infected Cape buffalo was associated with the development of two responses: (i) complement-dependent and clone-specific lytic activity and (ii) complement-independent trypanocidal activity that was not restricted by trypanosome clone or species. This latter activity was mediated by H2O2 and required the presence of xanthine oxidase in serum but not the addition of purine substrates. Expression of the xanthine oxidase-dependent trypanocidal activity in Cape buffalo serum was coincident with, and required, a decline in its H2O2 catabolic activity. The H2O2 catabolic activity of Cape buffalo serum was due solely to catalase and declined by eightfold around the time that trypanosomes were cleared from the blood, accompanied by a fivefold drop in erythrocyte-associated catalase activity. The Cape buffalo did not develop subsequent parasitemic waves. Clearance of parasitemia in similarly infected cattle was also associated with development of trypanosome clone-specific lytic activity, but not with the acquisition of H2O2-dependent trypanocidal activity in serum, and the cattle supported recurring parasitemia. The lack of trypanocidal activity in pre- and postinfection cattle sera was due to their low content of xanthine oxidase and sustained catalase activity. These data strongly suggest that an infection-induced serum oxidative response, the efficacy of which is amplified by a decline in blood catalase, contributes to suppression of recurring parasitemia in Cape buffalo. (+info)
Platelet-activating factor induces nitric oxide synthesis in Trypanosoma cruzi-infected macrophages and mediates resistance to parasite infection in mice.
(5/682)
Trypanosoma cruzi replicates in nucleated cells and is susceptible to being killed by gamma interferon-activated macrophages through a mechanism dependent upon NO biosynthesis. In the present study, the role of platelet-activating factor (PAF) in the induction of NO synthesis and in the activation of the trypanocidal activity of macrophages was investigated. In vitro, PAF induced NO secretion by T. cruzi-infected macrophages and the secreted NO inhibited intracellular parasite growth. The addition of a PAF antagonist, WEB 2170, inhibited both NO biosynthesis and trypanocidal activity. The inducible NO synthase/L-arginine pathway mediated trypanocidal activity, since it was inhibited by treatment with L-N-monomethyl arginine (L-NMMA), an L-arginine analog. PAF-mediated NO production in infected macrophages appears to be dependent on tumor necrosis alpha (TNF-alpha) production, since the addition of a neutralizing anti-TNF-alpha monoclonal antibody mAb inhibited NO synthesis. To test the role of PAF in mediating resistance or susceptibility to T. cruzi infection, infected mice were treated with WEB 2170, a PAF antagonist. These animals had higher parasitemia and earlier mortality than did vehicle-treated mice. Taken together, our results suggest that PAF belongs to a group of mediators that coordinate the mechanisms of resistance to infections with intracellular parasites. (+info)
A nucleoside transporter from Trypanosoma brucei involved in drug resistance.
(6/682)
Drug resistance of pathogens is an increasing problem whose underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Cellular uptake of the major drugs against Trypanosoma brucei spp., the causative agents of sleeping sickness, is thought to occur through an unusual, so far unidentified adenosine transporter. Saccharomyces cerevisiae was used in a functional screen to clone a gene (TbAT1) from Trypanosoma brucei brucei that encodes a nucleoside transporter. When expressed in yeast, TbAT1 enabled adenosine uptake and conferred susceptibility to melaminophenyl arsenicals. Drug-resistant trypanosomes harbor a defective TbAT1 variant. The molecular identification of the entry route of trypanocides opens the way to approaches for diagnosis and treatment of drug-resistant sleeping sickness. (+info)
Antitrypanosomal activity of fluoroquinolones.
(7/682)
Six fluoroquinolones presently in clinical use and four investigational tetracyclic fluoroquinolones were tested for in vitro activity against bloodstream-form Trypanosoma brucei brucei. All compounds had measurable activity, but the tetracyclic analogs were most potent, with 50% effective concentrations in the low micromolar range. In general, trypanosomes were more susceptible than L1210 leukemia cells. Consistent with the notion that they target type II topoisomerase in trypanosomes, the fluoroquinolones promote the formation of protein-DNA covalent complexes. (+info)
Differential effects of adenine nucleotide analogues on shape change and aggregation induced by adnosine 5-diphosphate (ADP) in human platelets.
(8/682)
Adenosine 5'-diphosphate (ADP) induces human blood platelets to aggregate and change shape, and it has been suggested that these two responses are mediated by more than one subtype of ADP receptor. The structure-activity relationships for several analogues of adenine nucleotides in causing aggregation and shape change were measured and compared in washed platelets using an aggregometer. ADP and its analogues 2-methylthioadenosine 5'-diphosphate (2-methylthio-ADP), adenosine 5'(alpha,beta-methylene)diphosphonate (AMPCP), S(P)-adenosine 5'-O-(1-thiodiphosphate) (AD-P alphaS) and adenosine 5'-O-(2-thiodiphosphate) (ADPbetaS) were used as agonists. Adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) and its analogues, P1, P5-diadenosine pentaphosphate (ApsA), adenosine (5'-(alpha,beta-methylene)triphosphonate (AMPCPP), 2-methylthioadenosine 5'-triphosphate (2-methylthio-ATP) and uridine 5'-triphosphate (UTP), as well as the trypanocidal drug suramin, were used as antagonists. In general, the structure-activity relationships for both responses were similar, but for some analogues differences were observed. ADPalphaS and ADPbetaS were much more potent agonists relative to ADP for shape change than for aggregation and indeed ADPalphaS antagonized ADP-induced aggregation with an apparent pK(B) value of 5.5+/-0.1. 2-Methylthio-ATP also had different effects in aggregation and shape change, being a much higher affinity antagonist of aggregation than of shape change with an apparent pK(B) value of 7.0+/-0.2 for aggregation and 5.2+/-0.2 for shape change. These results support the suggestion that these two responses are mediated by multiple ADP receptors on human platelets, and are consistent with shape change being mediated via one receptor (the P2Y1 receptor) with aggregation requiring the activation of two receptors (the P2Y1 and another P2Y receptor). (+info)