The major cysteine proteinase of Trypanosoma cruzi: a valid target for chemotherapy of Chagas disease.
Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of the American Trypanosomiasis, Chagas disease, contains a major cysteine proteinase (CP), cruzipain (also known as cruzain, or GP57/51). The enzyme is a member of the papain C1 family of CPs, with a specificity intermediate between those of cathepsin L and cathepsin B. The enzyme, which is expressed at different levels by different parasite stages, is encoded by a high number of genes (up to 130 in the Tul2 strain), which code for a pre-pro-enzyme. Mature cruzipain consists of a catalytic moiety with high homology to cathepsins S and L, and a C-terminal domain, characteristic of Type I CPs of Trypanosomatids, and absent in all other C1 family CPs described so far. Irreversible inhibitors of cruzipain (peptidyl diazomethylketones, peptidyl fluoromethylketones, peptidyl vinyl sulphones) are able to block the differentiation steps in the parasite's life cycle, and effectively kill the organism. Recently, a vinyl sulphone derivative (N-piperazine-Phe-hPhe-vinyl sulphone phenyl) which is an efficient inhibitor of cruzipain and kills T. cruzi by inducing an accumulation of unprocessed cruzipain in the Golgi cisternae, interfering with the secretory pathway, has been tested in vivo in a mice model (J.H. McKerrow et al.). The curative effects observed, as well as the good bioavailability of the inhibitor and its apparent lack of undesirable side effects, make it a promising lead compound for the development of new drugs for the chemotherapy of Chagas disease.
Jose Cazzulo
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Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnologicas, Universidad Nacional de General San Martin. INTI, edificio 24, Av. Gral. Paz s/n, Buenos Aires, 1650 San Martin, Argentina.
Stoka
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Turk
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D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D015195:Drug Design; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011487:Protein Conformation; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000201:enzymology*
D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases; C074032:cruzain, Trypanosoma cruzi