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Stajich JE, Lovett B, Lee E, Macias AM, Hajek AE, de Bivort BL, Kasson MT, De Fine Licht HH, Elya C. Signatures of transposon-mediated genome inflation, host specialization, and photoentrainment in Entomophthora muscae and allied entomophthoralean fungi. bioRxiv 2024:2023.09.13.557621. [PMID: 37745330 PMCID: PMC10515909 DOI: 10.1101/2023.09.13.557621] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/26/2023]
Abstract
Despite over a century of observations, the obligate insect parasites within the order Entomophthorales remain poorly characterized at the genetic level. This is in part due to their large genome sizes and difficulty in obtaining sequenceable material. In this manuscript, we leveraged a recently-isolated, laboratory-tractable Entomophthora muscae isolate and improved long-read sequencing to obtain a largely-complete entomophthoralean genome. Our E. muscae assembly is 1.03 Gb, consists of 7,810 contigs and contains 81.3% complete fungal BUSCOs. Using a comparative approach with other available (transcriptomic and genomic) datasets from entomophthoralean fungi, we provide new insight into the biology of these understudied pathogens. We offer a head-to-head comparison of morphological and molecular data for species within the E. muscae species complex. Our findings suggest that substantial taxonomic revision is needed to define species within this group and we provide recommendations for differentiating strains and species in the context of the existing body of E. muscae scientific literature. We show that giant genomes are the norm within Entomophthoraceae owing to extensive, but not recent, Ty3 retrotransposon activity, despite the presence of machinery to defend against transposable elements(RNAi). In addition, we find that E. muscae and its closest allies are enriched for M16A peptidases and possess genes that are likely homologs to the blue-light sensor white-collar 1, a Neurospora crassa gene that has a well-established role in maintaining circadian rhythms. We find that E. muscae has an expanded group of acid-trehalases, consistent with trehalose being the primary sugar component of fly (and insect) hemolymph. We uncover evidence that E. muscae diverged from other entomophthoralean fungi by expansion of existing families, rather than loss of particular domains, and possesses a potentially unique suite of secreted catabolic enzymes, consistent with E. muscae's species-specific, biotrophic lifestyle. Altogether, we provide a genetic and molecular foundation that we hope will provide a platform for the continued study of the unique biology of entomophthoralean fungi.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason E. Stajich
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, University of California-Riverside, Riverside, CA United States
| | - Brian Lovett
- Emerging Pests and Pathogens Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Ithaca, NY, United States
| | - Emily Lee
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Angie M. Macias
- Division of Plant and Soil Sciences, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
| | - Ann E. Hajek
- Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States
| | - Benjamin L. de Bivort
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Matt T. Kasson
- Division of Plant and Soil Sciences, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States
| | - Henrik H. De Fine Licht
- Section for Organismal Biology, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Carolyn Elya
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States
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Elya C. Entomophthora muscae. Trends Parasitol 2024:S1471-4922(24)00005-9. [PMID: 38310051 DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2024.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2023] [Revised: 01/12/2024] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 02/05/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn Elya
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA; Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
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Elya C, Lavrentovich D, Lee E, Pasadyn C, Duval J, Basak M, Saykina V, de Bivort BL. Neural mechanisms of parasite-induced summiting behavior in 'zombie' Drosophila. eLife 2023; 12:85410. [PMID: 37184212 DOI: 10.7554/elife.85410] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 05/14/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023] Open
Abstract
For at least two centuries, scientists have been enthralled by the 'zombie' behaviors induced by mind-controlling parasites. Despite this interest, the mechanistic bases of these uncanny processes have remained mostly a mystery. Here, we leverage the recently established Entomophthora muscae-Drosophila melanogaster 'zombie fly' system to reveal the molecular and cellular underpinnings of summit disease, a manipulated behavior evoked by many fungal parasites. Using a new, high-throughput behavior assay to measure summiting, we discovered that summiting behavior is characterized by a burst of locomotion and requires the host circadian and neurosecretory systems, specifically DN1p circadian neurons, pars intercerebralis to corpora allata projecting (PI-CA) neurons and corpora allata (CA), who are solely responsible for juvenile hormone (JH) synthesis and release. Summiting is a fleeting phenomenon, posing a challenge for physiological and biochemical experiments requiring tissue from summiting flies. We addressed this with a machine learning classifier to identify summiting animals in real time. PI-CA neurons and CA appear to be intact in summiting animals, despite E. muscae cells invading the host brain, particularly in the superior medial protocerebrum (SMP), the neuropil that contains DN1p axons and PI-CA dendrites. The blood-brain barrier of flies late in their infection was significantly permeabilized, suggesting that factors in the hemolymph may have greater access to the central nervous system during summiting. Metabolomic analysis of hemolymph from summiting flies revealed differential abundance of several compounds compared to non-summiting flies. Transfusing the hemolymph of summiting flies into non-summiting recipients induced a burst of locomotion, demonstrating that factor(s) in the hemolymph likely cause summiting behavior. Altogether, our work reveals a neuro-mechanistic model for summiting wherein fungal cells perturb the fly's hemolymph, activating the neurohormonal pathway linking clock neurons to juvenile hormone production in the CA, ultimately inducing locomotor activity in their host.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn Elya
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States
| | - Danylo Lavrentovich
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States
| | - Emily Lee
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States
| | - Cassandra Pasadyn
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States
| | - Jasper Duval
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States
| | - Maya Basak
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States
| | - Valerie Saykina
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States
| | - Benjamin L de Bivort
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States
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Abstract
The fungal genus Entomophthora consists of highly host-specific pathogens that cause deadly epizootics in their various insect hosts. The most well-known among these is the "zombie fly" fungus E. muscae, which, like other Entomophthora species, elicits a series of dramatic behaviors in infected hosts to promote optimal spore dispersal. Despite having been first described more than 160 years ago, there are still many open questions about Entomophthora biology, including the molecular underpinnings of host behavior manipulation and host specificity. This review provides a comprehensive overview of our current understanding of the biology of Entomophthora fungi and enumerates the most pressing outstanding questions that should be addressed in the field. We briefly review the discovery of Entomophthora and provide a summary of the 21 recognized Entomophthora species, including their type hosts, methods of transmission (ejection of spores after or before host death), and for which molecular data are available. Further, we argue that this genus is globally distributed, based on a compilation of Entomophthora records in the literature and in online naturalist databases, and likely to contain additional species. Evidence for strain-level specificity of hosts is summarized and directly compared to phylogenies of Entomophthora and the class Insecta. A detailed description of Entomophthora's life-cycle and observed manipulated behaviors is provided and used to summarize a consensus for ideal growth conditions. We discuss evidence for Entomophthora's adaptation to growth exclusively inside insects, such as producing wall-less hyphal bodies and a unique set of subtilisin-like proteases to penetrate the insect cuticle. However, we are only starting to understand the functions of unusual molecular and genomic characteristics, such as having large > 1 Gb genomes full of repetitive elements and potential functional diploidy. We argue that the high host-specificity and obligate life-style of most Entomophthora species provides ample scope for having been shaped by close coevolution with insects despite the current general lack of such evidence. Finally, we propose six major directions for future Entomophthora research and in doing so hope to provide a foundation for future studies of these fungi and their interaction with insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn Elya
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Henrik H De Fine Licht
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 1871, Frederiksberg, Denmark
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Abstract
Transmission is a crucial step in all pathogen life cycles. As such, certain species have evolved complex traits that increase their chances to find and invade new hosts. Fungal species that hijack insect behaviors are evident examples. Many of these "zombie-making" entomopathogens cause their hosts to exhibit heightened activity, seek out elevated positions, and display body postures that promote spore dispersal, all with specific circadian timing. Answering how fungal entomopathogens manipulate their hosts will increase our understanding of molecular aspects underlying fungus-insect interactions, pathogen-host coevolution, and the regulation of animal behavior. It may also lead to the discovery of novel bioactive compounds, given that the fungi involved have traditionally been understudied. This minireview summarizes and discusses recent work on zombie-making fungi of the orders Hypocreales and Entomophthorales that has resulted in hypotheses regarding the mechanisms that drive fungal manipulation of insect behavior. We discuss mechanical processes, host chemical signaling pathways, and fungal secreted effectors proposed to be involved in establishing pathogen-adaptive behaviors. Additionally, we touch on effectors' possible modes of action and how the convergent evolution of host manipulation could have given rise to the many parallels in observed behaviors across fungus-insect systems and beyond. However, the hypothesized mechanisms of behavior manipulation have yet to be proven. We, therefore, also suggest avenues of research that would move the field toward a more quantitative future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charissa de Bekker
- Department of Biology, College of Sciences, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA
- Genomics and Bioinformatics Cluster, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA
| | - William C. Beckerson
- Department of Biology, College of Sciences, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA
- Genomics and Bioinformatics Cluster, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA
| | - Carolyn Elya
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
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Abstract
We found substantial variation in resistance to the fly-specific pathogen Entomophthora muscae 'Berkeley' (Entomophthoromycota), in 20 lines from the Drosophila melanogaster Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP). Resistance to E. muscae is positively (r = 0.55) correlated with resistance to the broad host range ascomycete entomopathogen Metarhizium anisopliae (Ma549), indicative of generalist (non-specific) defenses. Most of the lines showing above average resistance to Ma549 showed cross-resistance to E. muscae. However, lines that succumbed quickly to Ma549 exhibited the full range of resistance to E. muscae. This suggests fly populations differ in E. muscae-specific resistance mechanisms as well as generic defences effective against both Ma549 and E. muscae. We looked for trade-offs that could account for inter-line variation, but increases (decreases) in disease resistance to E. muscae are not consistently associated with increases (decreases) of resistance to oxidative stress, starvation stress and sleep indices. That these pathogens are dynamic agents of selection on hosts is reflected in this genetic variation for resistance in lines derived from wild populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan B Wang
- Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA
| | - Carolyn Elya
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Raymond J St Leger
- Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA.
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Elya C, Lok TC, Spencer QE, McCausland H, Martinez CC, Eisen M. Robust manipulation of the behavior of Drosophila melanogaster by a fungal pathogen in the laboratory. eLife 2018; 7:e34414. [PMID: 30047862 PMCID: PMC6067884 DOI: 10.7554/elife.34414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2017] [Accepted: 07/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Many microbes induce striking behavioral changes in their animal hosts, but how they achieve this is poorly understood, especially at the molecular level. Mechanistic understanding has been largely constrained by the lack of an experimental system amenable to molecular manipulation. We recently discovered a strain of the behavior-manipulating fungal pathogen Entomophthora muscae infecting wild Drosophila, and established methods to infect D. melanogaster in the lab. Lab-infected flies manifest the moribund behaviors characteristic of E. muscae infection: hours before death, they climb upward, extend their proboscides, affixing in place, then raise their wings, clearing a path for infectious spores to launch from their abdomens. We found that E. muscae invades the nervous system, suggesting a direct means by which the fungus could induce behavioral changes. Given the vast molecular toolkit available for D. melanogaster, we believe this new system will enable rapid progress in understanding how E. muscae manipulates host behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn Elya
- Department of Molecular and Cell BiologyUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
| | - Tin Ching Lok
- Department of Molecular and Cell BiologyUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
| | - Quinn E Spencer
- Department of Molecular and Cell BiologyUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
| | - Hayley McCausland
- Department of Molecular and Cell BiologyUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
| | - Ciera C Martinez
- Department of Molecular and Cell BiologyUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
| | - Michael Eisen
- Department of Molecular and Cell BiologyUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
- Department of Integrative BiologyUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
- Howard Hughes Medical InstituteUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
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Ortiz D, Guiguemde WA, Hammill JT, Carrillo AK, Chen Y, Connelly M, Stalheim K, Elya C, Johnson A, Min J, Shelat A, Smithson DC, Yang L, Zhu F, Guy RK, Landfear SM. Discovery of novel, orally bioavailable, antileishmanial compounds using phenotypic screening. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2017; 11:e0006157. [PMID: 29287089 PMCID: PMC5764437 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0006157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2017] [Revised: 01/11/2018] [Accepted: 12/09/2017] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a parasitic infection that afflicts approximately 12 million people worldwide. There are several limitations to the approved drug therapies for leishmaniasis, including moderate to severe toxicity, growing drug resistance, and the need for extended dosing. Moreover, miltefosine is currently the only orally available drug therapy for this infection. We addressed the pressing need for new therapies by pursuing a two-step phenotypic screen to discover novel, potent, and orally bioavailable antileishmanials. First, we conducted a high-throughput screen (HTS) of roughly 600,000 small molecules for growth inhibition against the promastigote form of the parasite life cycle using the nucleic acid binding dye SYBR Green I. This screen identified approximately 2,700 compounds that inhibited growth by over 65% at a single point concentration of 10 μM. We next used this 2700 compound focused library to identify compounds that were highly potent against the disease-causing intra-macrophage amastigote form and exhibited limited toxicity toward the host macrophages. This two-step screening strategy uncovered nine unique chemical scaffolds within our collection, including two previously described antileishmanials. We further profiled two of the novel compounds for in vitro absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and in vivo pharmacokinetics. Both compounds proved orally bioavailable, affording plasma exposures above the half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) concentration for at least 12 hours. Both compounds were efficacious when administered orally in a murine model of cutaneous leishmaniasis. One of the two compounds exerted potent activity against trypanosomes, which are kinetoplastid parasites related to Leishmania species. Therefore, this compound could help control multiple parasitic diseases. The promising pharmacokinetic profile and significant in vivo efficacy observed from our HTS hits highlight the utility of our two-step phenotypic screening strategy and strongly suggest that medicinal chemistry optimization of these newly identified scaffolds will lead to promising candidates for an orally available anti-parasitic drug.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diana Ortiz
- Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, United States of America
| | - W. Armand Guiguemde
- Department of Chemical Biology and Theraputics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Jared T. Hammill
- Department of Chemical Biology and Theraputics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Angela K. Carrillo
- Department of Chemical Biology and Theraputics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Yizhe Chen
- Department of Chemical Biology and Theraputics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Michele Connelly
- Department of Chemical Biology and Theraputics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Kayla Stalheim
- Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, United States of America
| | - Carolyn Elya
- Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, United States of America
| | - Alex Johnson
- Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, United States of America
| | - Jaeki Min
- Department of Chemical Biology and Theraputics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Anang Shelat
- Department of Chemical Biology and Theraputics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - David C. Smithson
- Department of Chemical Biology and Theraputics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Lei Yang
- Department of Chemical Biology and Theraputics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Fangyi Zhu
- Department of Chemical Biology and Theraputics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - R. Kiplin Guy
- Department of Chemical Biology and Theraputics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Scott M. Landfear
- Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, United States of America
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Elya C, Zhang V, Ludington WB, Eisen MB. Stable Host Gene Expression in the Gut of Adult Drosophila melanogaster with Different Bacterial Mono-Associations. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0167357. [PMID: 27898741 PMCID: PMC5127555 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0167357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2016] [Accepted: 11/11/2016] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
There is growing evidence that the microbes found in the digestive tracts of animals influence host biology, but we still do not understand how they accomplish this. Here, we evaluated how different microbial species commonly associated with laboratory-reared Drosophila melanogaster impact host biology at the level of gene expression in the dissected adult gut and in the entire adult organism. We observed that guts from animals associated from the embryonic stage with either zero, one or three bacterial species demonstrated indistinguishable transcriptional profiles. Additionally, we found that the gut transcriptional profiles of animals reared in the presence of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae alone or in combination with bacteria could recapitulate those of conventionally-reared animals. In contrast, we found whole body transcriptional profiles of conventionally-reared animals were distinct from all of the treatments tested. Our data suggest that adult flies are insensitive to the ingestion of the bacteria found in their gut, but that prior to adulthood, different microbes impact the host in ways that lead to global transcriptional differences observable across the whole adult body.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn Elya
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Vivian Zhang
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America
| | - William B. Ludington
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America
| | - Michael B. Eisen
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America
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Ortiz D, Guiguemde WA, Johnson A, Elya C, Anderson J, Clark J, Connelly M, Yang L, Min J, Sato Y, Guy RK, Landfear SM. Identification of Selective Inhibitors of the Plasmodium falciparum Hexose Transporter PfHT by Screening Focused Libraries of Anti-Malarial Compounds. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0123598. [PMID: 25894322 PMCID: PMC4404333 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0123598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2014] [Accepted: 02/20/2015] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Development of resistance against current antimalarial drugs necessitates the search for novel drugs that interact with different targets and have distinct mechanisms of action. Malaria parasites depend upon high levels of glucose uptake followed by inefficient metabolic utilization via the glycolytic pathway, and the Plasmodium falciparum hexose transporter PfHT, which mediates uptake of glucose, has thus been recognized as a promising drug target. This transporter is highly divergent from mammalian hexose transporters, and it appears to be a permease that is essential for parasite viability in intra-erythrocytic, mosquito, and liver stages of the parasite life cycle. An assay was developed that is appropriate for high throughput screening against PfHT based upon heterologous expression of PfHT in Leishmania mexicana parasites that are null mutants for their endogenous hexose transporters. Screening of two focused libraries of antimalarial compounds identified two such compounds that are high potency selective inhibitors of PfHT compared to human GLUT1. Additionally, 7 other compounds were identified that are lower potency and lower specificity PfHT inhibitors but might nonetheless serve as starting points for identification of analogs with more selective properties. These results further support the potential of PfHT as a novel drug target.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diana Ortiz
- Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States of America
| | - W. Armand Guiguemde
- Department of Chemical Biology & Therapeutics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, United States of America
| | - Alex Johnson
- Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States of America
| | - Carolyn Elya
- Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States of America
| | - Johanna Anderson
- Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States of America
| | - Julie Clark
- Department of Chemical Biology & Therapeutics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, United States of America
| | - Michele Connelly
- Department of Chemical Biology & Therapeutics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, United States of America
| | - Lei Yang
- Department of Chemical Biology & Therapeutics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, United States of America
| | - Jaeki Min
- Department of Chemical Biology & Therapeutics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, United States of America
| | - Yuko Sato
- Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States of America
| | - R. Kiplin Guy
- Department of Chemical Biology & Therapeutics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, United States of America
| | - Scott M. Landfear
- Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Ortiz D, Valdés R, Sanchez MA, Hayenga J, Elya C, Detke S, Landfear SM. Purine restriction induces pronounced translational upregulation of the NT1 adenosine/pyrimidine nucleoside transporter in Leishmania major. Mol Microbiol 2010; 78:108-18. [PMID: 20735779 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2010.07328.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Leishmania and other parasitic protozoa are unable to synthesize purines de novo and are reliant upon purine nucleoside and nucleobase transporters to import preformed purines from their hosts. To study the roles of the four purine permeases NT1-NT4 in Leishmania major, null mutants in each transporter gene were prepared and the effect of each gene deletion on purine uptake was monitored. Deletion of the NT3 purine nucleobase transporter gene or both NT3 and the NT2 nucleoside transporter gene resulted in pronounced upregulation of adenosine and uridine uptake mediated by the NT1 permease and also induced up to a 200-fold enhancement in the level of the NT1 protein but not mRNA. A similar level of upregulation of NT1 was achieved in wild-type promastigotes that were transferred to medium deficient in purines. Pulse labelling and treatment of cells with the translation inhibitor cycloheximide revealed that control of NT1 expression occurs primarily at the level of translation and not protein turnover. These observations imply the existence of a translational control mechanism that enhances the ability of Leishmania parasites to import essential purines when they are present at limiting concentrations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diana Ortiz
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
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