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Azevedo LG, Sosa E, de Queiroz ATL, Barral A, Wheeler RJ, Nicolás MF, Farias LP, Do Porto DF, Ramos PIP. High-throughput prioritization of target proteins for development of new antileishmanial compounds. Int J Parasitol Drugs Drug Resist 2024; 25:100538. [PMID: 38669848 PMCID: PMC11068527 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpddr.2024.100538] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2023] [Revised: 03/11/2024] [Accepted: 04/04/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024]
Abstract
Leishmaniasis, a vector-borne disease, is caused by the infection of Leishmania spp., obligate intracellular protozoan parasites. Presently, human vaccines are unavailable, and the primary treatment relies heavily on systemic drugs, often presenting with suboptimal formulations and substantial toxicity, making new drugs a high priority for LMIC countries burdened by the disease, but a low priority in the agenda of most pharmaceutical companies due to unattractive profit margins. New ways to accelerate the discovery of new, or the repositioning of existing drugs, are needed. To address this challenge, our study aimed to identify potential protein targets shared among clinically-relevant Leishmania species. We employed a subtractive proteomics and comparative genomics approach, integrating high-throughput multi-omics data to classify these targets based on different druggability metrics. This effort resulted in the ranking of 6502 ortholog groups of protein targets across 14 pathogenic Leishmania species. Among the top 20 highly ranked groups, metabolic processes known to be attractive drug targets, including the ubiquitination pathway, aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, and purine synthesis, were rediscovered. Additionally, we unveiled novel promising targets such as the nicotinate phosphoribosyltransferase enzyme and dihydrolipoamide succinyltransferases. These groups exhibited appealing druggability features, including less than 40% sequence identity to the human host proteome, predicted essentiality, structural classification as highly druggable or druggable, and expression levels above the 50th percentile in the amastigote form. The resources presented in this work also represent a comprehensive collection of integrated data regarding trypanosomatid biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucas G Azevedo
- Center for Data and Knowledge Integration for Health (CIDACS), Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz Bahia), Salvador, Bahia, Brazil; Post-graduate Program in Biotechnology and Investigative Medicine, Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
| | - Ezequiel Sosa
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
| | - Artur T L de Queiroz
- Center for Data and Knowledge Integration for Health (CIDACS), Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz Bahia), Salvador, Bahia, Brazil; Post-graduate Program in Biotechnology and Investigative Medicine, Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
| | - Aldina Barral
- Laboratório de Medicina e Saúde Pública de Precisão (MeSP2), Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz Bahia), Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
| | - Richard J Wheeler
- Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
| | - Marisa F Nicolás
- Laboratório Nacional de Computação Científica, Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
| | - Leonardo P Farias
- Post-graduate Program in Biotechnology and Investigative Medicine, Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil; Laboratório de Medicina e Saúde Pública de Precisão (MeSP2), Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz Bahia), Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
| | | | - Pablo Ivan P Ramos
- Center for Data and Knowledge Integration for Health (CIDACS), Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz Bahia), Salvador, Bahia, Brazil; Post-graduate Program in Biotechnology and Investigative Medicine, Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
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Salgado VR, Queiroz ATLD, Sanabani SS, Oliveira CID, Carvalho EM, Costa JML, Barral-Netto M, Barral A. The microbiological signature of human cutaneous leishmaniasis lesions exhibits restricted bacterial diversity compared to healthy skin. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 2016; 111:241-51. [PMID: 27074253 PMCID: PMC4830113 DOI: 10.1590/0074-02760150436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2015] [Accepted: 03/01/2016] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Localised cutaneous leishmaniasis (LCL) is the most common form of cutaneous
leishmaniasis characterised by single or multiple painless chronic ulcers, which
commonly presents with secondary bacterial infection. Previous culture-based studies
have found staphylococci, streptococci, and opportunistic pathogenic bacteria in LCL
lesions, but there have been no comparisons to normal skin. In addition, this
approach has strong bias for determining bacterial composition. The present study
tested the hypothesis that bacterial communities in LCL lesions differ from those
found on healthy skin (HS). Using a high throughput amplicon sequencing approach,
which allows for better populational evaluation due to greater depth coverage and the
Quantitative Insights Into Microbial Ecology pipeline, we compared the
microbiological signature of LCL lesions with that of contralateral HS from the same
individuals.Streptococcus,
Staphylococcus,Fusobacterium and other strict or
facultative anaerobic bacteria composed the LCL microbiome. Aerobic and facultative
anaerobic bacteria found in HS, including environmental bacteria, were significantly
decreased in LCL lesions (p < 0.01). This paper presents the first comprehensive
microbiome identification from LCL lesions with next generation sequence methodology
and shows a marked reduction of bacterial diversity in the lesions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vanessa R Salgado
- Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Salvador, BA, Brasil
| | | | - Sabri S Sanabani
- Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil
| | | | - Edgar M Carvalho
- Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Salvador, BA, Brasil
| | - Jackson M L Costa
- Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Salvador, BA, Brasil
| | - Manoel Barral-Netto
- Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Salvador, BA, Brasil
| | - Aldina Barral
- Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Salvador, BA, Brasil
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Locateli D, Stoco PH, de Queiroz ATL, Alcântara LCJ, Ferreira LGE, Zanetti CR, Rodrigues R, Grisard EC, Pinto AR. Molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 in Santa Catarina State confirms increases of subtype C in Southern Brazil. J Med Virol 2007; 79:1455-63. [PMID: 17705166 DOI: 10.1002/jmv.20955] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Recent studies have demonstrated an increased prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) subtype C in southern Brazil. Although Santa Catarina State (SC) is located in this area and presents one of the country's highest incidences of HIV/AIDS, knowledge on the molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 in such State is lacking. The aim of this study was to investigate the HIV-1 molecular diversity and epidemiological profile of HIV-1-infected patients from SC. DNA samples were PCR amplified and HIV-1 subtypes were determined using both env and gag genes by direct sequencing. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that 48% were subtype C and 23% were subtype B. Possible recombinant forms were observed for both B/C (23%) and B/F (6%) subtypes. Our results, for the first time, identifies HIV-1 subtype C as a major clade circulating in SC and contributes to the understanding of HIV epidemics in the country by confirming the epidemic spread of the HIV-1 subtype C in southern Brazil.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dayse Locateli
- Laboratório de Imunologia Aplicada, Departamento de Microbiologia e Parasitologia, UFSC, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil
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