title: Hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase from Trypanosoma cruzi as a target for structure-based inhibitor design: crystallization and inhibition studies with purine analogs.
abstract: The hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) from Trypanosoma cruzi is a potential target for enzyme structure-based inhibitor design, based on previous studies which indicate that these parasites lack the metabolic enzymes required for de novo synthesis of purine nucleotides. By using a bacterial complement selection system, 59 purine analogs were assayed for their interaction with the HPRTs from T. cruzi and Homo sapiens. Eight compounds were identified from the bacterial assay to have an affinity for the trypanosomal enzyme. Inhibition constants for four of these compounds against purified recombinant trypanosomal and human HPRTs were determined and compared. The results confirm that the recombinant system can be used to identify compounds which have affinity for the trypanosomal HPRT. Furthermore, the results provide evidence for the importance of chemical modifications at positions 6 and 8 of the purine ring in the binding of these compounds to the HPRTs. An accurate three-dimensional structure of the trypanosomal enzyme will greatly enhance our understanding of the interactions between HPRTs and these compounds. Toward this end, crystallization conditions for the trypanosomal HPRT and preliminary analysis of X-ray diffraction data to a resolution of 2 A is reported. These results represent significant progress toward a structure-based approach to the design of inhibitors of the HPRT of trypanosomes with the long-range goal of developing new drugs for the treatment of Chagas' disease.
authors.affiliation: Division of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 27599-7360, USA. eakin@unc.edu
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Eakin
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guerra
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Focia
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Torres-Martinez
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Craig
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000188:drug therapy; D003460:Crystallization; D015195:Drug Design; D007041:Hypoxanthine Phosphoribosyltransferase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000737:chemistry; D011687:Purines / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014344:Trypanocidal Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D011687:Purines; D014344:Trypanocidal Agents; D007041:Hypoxanthine Phosphoribosyltransferase