Browsing by Author "Vanhollebeke, Benoit"
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Item Crystal structures of Trypanosoma brucei sterol 14α-demethylase and implications for selective treatment of human infections(2010) Lepesheva, Galina I.; Park, Hee Won; Hargrove, Tatiana Y.; Vanhollebeke, Benoit; Wawrzak, Zdzislaw; Harp, Joel M.; Sundaramoorthy, Munirathinam; Nes, W. David (TTU); Pays, Etienne; Chaudhuri, Minu; Villalta, Fernando; Waterman, Michael R.Sterol 14α-demethylase (14DM, the CYP51 family of cytochrome P450) is an essential enzyme in sterol biosynthesis in eukaryotes. It serves as a major drug target for fungal diseases and can potentially become a target for treatment of human infections with protozoa. Here we present 1.9 Å resolution crystal structures of 14DM from the protozoan pathogen Trypanosoma brucei, ligand-free and complexed with a strong chemically selected inhibitor N-1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-2-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)ethyl)-4-(5-phenyl-1,3, 4-oxadi-azol-2-yl)benzamide that we previously found to produce potent antiparasitic effects in Trypanosomatidae. This is the first structure of a eukaryotic microsomal 14DM that acts on sterol biosynthesis, and it differs profoundly from that of the water-soluble CYP51 family member from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, both in organization of the active site cavity and in the substrate access channel location. Inhibitor binding does not cause large scale conformational rearrangements, yet induces unanticipated local alterations in the active site, including formation of a hydrogen bond network that connects, via the inhibitor amide group fragment, two remote functionally essential protein segments and alters the heme environment. The inhibitor binding mode provides a possible explanation for both its functionally irreversible effect on the enzyme activity and its selectivity toward the14DM from human pathogens versus the human 14DM ortholog. The structures shed new light on 14DM functional conservation and open an excellent opportunity for directed design of novel antiparasitic drugs. © 2010 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.Item Discovery of an ergosterol-signaling factor that regulates trypanosoma brucei growth(2015) Haubrich, Brad A. (TTU); Singha, Ujjal K.; Miller, Matthew B. (TTU); Nes, Craigen R. (TTU); Anyatonwu, Hosanna (TTU); Lecordier, Laurence; Patkar, Presheet (TTU); Leaver, David J. (TTU); Villalta, Fernando; Vanhollebeke, Benoit; Chaudhuri, Minu; Nes, W. David (TTU)Ergosterol biosynthesis and homeostasis in the parasitic protozoan Trypanosoma brucei was analyzed by RNAi silencing and inhibition of sterol C24β -methyltransferase ( TbSMT) and sterol 14α-demethylase [ TbSDM ( TbCYP51)] to explore the functions of sterols in T. brucei growth. Inhibition of the amount or activity of these enzymes depletes ergosterol from cells at <6 fg/cell for procyclic form (PCF) cells or <0.01 fg/cell for bloodstream form (BSF) cells and reduces infectivity in a mouse model of infection. Silencing of Tb SMT expression by RNAi in PCF or BSF in combination with 25-azalanosterol (AZA) inhibited parasite growth and this inhibition was restored completely by adding synergistic cholesterol (7.8 μM from lipid-depleted media) with small amounts of ergosterol (1.2 μM) to the medium. These observations are consistent with the proposed requirement for ergosterol as a signaling factor to spark cell proliferation while imported cholesterol or the endogenously formed cholesta-5,7,24-trienol act as bulk membrane components. To test the potential chemotherapeutic importance of disrupting ergosterol biosynthesis using pairs of mechanismbased inhibitors that block two enzymes in the post-squalene segment, parasites were treated with AZA and itraconazole at 1 μM each (ED50 values) resulting in parasite death . Taken together, our results demonstrate that the ergosterol pathway is a prime drug target for intervention in T. brucei infection. -Haubrich, B. A., U. K. Singha, M. B. Miller, C. R. Nes, H. Anyatonwu, L. Lecordier, P. Patkar, D. J. Leaver, F. Villalta, B. Vanhollebeke, M. Chaudhuri, and W. D. Nes. Discovery of an ergosterol-signaling factor that regulates Trypanosoma brucei growth. J. Lipid Res. 2015.