title: Molecular bases for the anti-parasitic effect of NO (Review).
abstract: Nitric oxide (NO) has emerged as an important cytotoxic and cytostatic effector for a number of pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites. When the microbicidal effect of NO occurs, the NO-mediated S-nitrosylation of cysteine containing proteins (e.g., cysteine proteases) appears to be a common and widespread mechanism. This overview concerns parasitic cysteine proteases as NO targets, providing molecular bases for the parasiticidal effect of NO.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biologia, Università Roma Tre, I-00146 Rome, Italy. colasant@bio.uniroma2.it
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Colasanti
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gradoni
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mattu
authors.forename: Tiziana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Persichini
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Salvati
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Venturini
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ascenzi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000977:Antiparasitic Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D003545:Cysteine / Q000378:metabolism; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D020030:Nitric Oxide Donors / Q000378:metabolism; D010271:Parasites / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D015800:Protozoan Proteins
chemical_list: D000977:Antiparasitic Agents; D020030:Nitric Oxide Donors; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases; C063214:cruzipain; D003545:Cysteine