Lautens MJ, Tan JH, Serrat X, Del Borrello S, Schertzberg MR, Fraser AG. Identification of enzymes that have helminth-specific active sites and are required for Rhodoquinone-dependent metabolism as targets for new anthelmintics.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2021;
15:e0009991. [PMID:
34843467 PMCID:
PMC8659336 DOI:
10.1371/journal.pntd.0009991]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [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: 06/11/2021] [Revised: 12/09/2021] [Accepted: 11/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Soil transmitted helminths (STHs) are major human pathogens that infect over a billion people. Resistance to current anthelmintics is rising and new drugs are needed. Here we combine multiple approaches to find druggable targets in the anaerobic metabolic pathways STHs need to survive in their mammalian host. These require rhodoquinone (RQ), an electron carrier used by STHs and not their hosts. We identified 25 genes predicted to act in RQ-dependent metabolism including sensing hypoxia and RQ synthesis and found 9 are required. Since all 9 have mammalian orthologues, we used comparative genomics and structural modeling to identify those with active sites that differ between host and parasite. Together, we found 4 genes that are required for RQ-dependent metabolism and have different active sites. Finding these high confidence targets can open up in silico screens to identify species selective inhibitors of these enzymes as new anthelmintics.
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