A Screening Pipeline for Antiparasitic Agents Targeting Cryptosporidium Inosine Monophosphate Dehydrogenase

Persistent diarrhea is a leading cause of illness and death among impoverished children, and a growing share of this disease burden can be attributed to the parasite Cryptosporidium. There are no vaccines to prevent Cryptosporidium infection, and the treatment options are limited and unreliable. Critically, no effective treatment exists for children or adults suffering from AIDS. Cryptosporidium presents many technical obstacles for drug discovery; perhaps the most important roadblock is the difficulty of monitoring drug action. Here we have developed a set of methods to accelerate the drug discovery process for cryptosporidiosis. We exploit the opportunities for experimental manipulation in the related parasite Toxoplasma to genetically engineer a Cryptosporidium model. This new model parasite mirrors the metabolism of Cryptosporidium for a particularly promising drug target that supplies the building blocks for DNA and RNA. Drug effectiveness can be assayed through simple fluorescence measurements for many candidates. Using this assay as an initial filter, and adapting other assays to a high throughput format, we identify several novel chemical compounds that exhibit markedly improved anti-cryptosporidial activity and excellent selectivity

Identification of Novel Mt-Guab2 Inhibitor Series Active against M. tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a leading cause of mortality worldwide. With the emergence of multidrug resistant TB, extensively drug resistant TB and HIV-associated TB it is imperative that new drug targets be identified. The potential of Mycobacterium tuberculosis inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH) as a novel drug target was explored in the present study. IMPDH exclusively catalyzes the conversion of inosine monophosphate (IMP) to xanthosine monophosphate (XMP) in the presence of the cofactor nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+). Although the enzyme is a dehydrogenase, the enzyme does not catalyze the reverse reaction i.e. the conversion of XMP to IMP. Unlike other bacteria, M. tuberculosis harbors three IMPDH-like genes, designated as Mt-guaB1, Mt-guaB2 and Mt-guaB3 respectively. Of the three putative IMPDH's, we previously confirmed that Mt-GuaB2 was the only functional ortholog by characterizing the enzyme kinetically. Using an in silico approach based on designed scaffolds, a series of novel classes of inhibitors was identified. The inhibitors possess good activity against M. tuberculosis with MIC values in the range of 0.4 to 11.4 µg mL−1. Among the identified ligands, two inhibitors have nanomolar Kis against the Mt-GuaB2 enzyme

The Cryptosporidium parvum Kinome

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hundreds of millions of people are infected with cryptosporidiosis annually, with immunocompromised individuals suffering debilitating symptoms and children in socioeconomically challenged regions at risk of repeated infections. There is currently no effective drug available. In order to facilitate the pursuit of anti-cryptosporidiosis targets and compounds, our study spans the classification of the <it>Cryptosporidium parvum </it>kinome and the structural and biochemical characterization of representatives from the CDPK family and a MAP kinase.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The <it>C</it>. <it>parvum </it>kinome comprises over 70 members, some of which may be promising drug targets. These <it>C. parvum </it>protein kinases include members in the AGC, Atypical, CaMK, CK1, CMGC, and TKL groups; however, almost 35% could only be classified as OPK (other protein kinases). In addition, about 25% of the kinases identified did not have any known orthologues outside of <it>Cryptosporidium spp</it>. Comparison of specific kinases with their <it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>and <it>Toxoplasma gondii </it>orthologues revealed some distinct characteristics within the <it>C. parvum </it>kinome, including potential targets and opportunities for drug design. Structural and biochemical analysis of 4 representatives of the CaMK group and a MAP kinase confirms features that may be exploited in inhibitor design. Indeed, screening <it>Cp</it>CDPK1 against a library of kinase inhibitors yielded a set of the pyrazolopyrimidine derivatives (PP1-derivatives) with IC₅₀values of < 10 nM. The binding of a PP1-derivative is further described by an inhibitor-bound crystal structure of <it>Cp</it>CDPK1. In addition, structural analysis of <it>Cp</it>CDPK4 identified an unprecedented Zn-finger within the CDPK kinase domain that may have implications for its regulation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Identification and comparison of the <it>C. parvum </it>protein kinases against other parasitic kinases shows how orthologue- and family-based research can be used to facilitate characterization of promising drug targets and the search for new drugs.</p

Treatment of cryptosporidiosis in immunocompromised individuals: systematic review and meta-analysis

Cryptosporidium is a common cause of gastroenteritis and is associated with severe life-threatening illness among immunocompromised individuals. This review aimed to assess the efficacy of interventions for the treatment and prevention of cryptosporidiosis among immunocompromised patients. A search of Medline, Embase and other electronic databases was carried out up to August 2005. Two reviewers independently extracted data and assessed study quality. The relative risk for each intervention was calculated. Seven trials involving 169 participants were included. Nitazoxanide and paramomycin were associated with a relative risk (RR) of reduction in the duration and frequency of diarrhoea of 0.83 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.36, 1.94] and 0.74 (95% CI 0.42, 1.31), respectively, showing no evidence of effectiveness. Nitazoxanide led to significant evidence of oocyst clearance compared with placebo with a RR of 0.52 (95% CI 0.30, 0.91). The effect was not significant for HIV-seropositive participants (RR 0.71, 95% CI 0.36, 1.37). HIV-seronegative participants on nitazoxanide had a significantly higher relative risk of achieving parasitological clearance of 0.26 (95% CI 0.09, 0.80) based on a single study. No other intervention was associated with either a reduction in diarrhoea, mortality or a significant parasitological response. This review confirms the absence of evidence for effective agents in the management of cryptosporidiosis. The results indicate that nitaxozanide reduces load of parasites and may be useful in immunocompetent individuals. The absence of effective therapy highlights the importance of preventive interventions in this group of patients

Two classes of bacterial IMPDHs according to their quaternary structures and catalytic properties.

Inosine-5'-monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH) occupies a key position in purine nucleotide metabolism. In this study, we have performed the biochemical and physico-chemical characterization of eight bacterial IMPDHs, among which six were totally unexplored. This study led to a classification of bacterial IMPDHs according to the regulation of their catalytic properties and their quaternary structures. Class I IMPDHs are cooperative enzymes for IMP, which are activated by MgATP and are octameric in all tested conditions. On the other hand, class II IMPDHs behave as Michaelis-Menten enzymes for both substrates and are tetramers in their apo state or in the presence of IMP, which are shifted to octamers in the presence of NAD or MgATP. Our work provides new insights into the IMPDH functional regulation and a model for the quaternary structure modulation is proposed