The acquisition of purines by trypanosomatids.
Parasites of the family Trypanosomatidae have an absolute requirement for purines, yet lack the intracellular machinery to synthesize their own purine ring de novo. As a result, the enzymes devoted to the transport and metabolism of purines are extremely important to the parasite. Here, Claudia Cohn and Michael Gottlieb emphasize the value of understanding purine salvage for the development of trypanocidal drugs, and discuss the putative transporters devoted to purine uptake.
Johns Hopkins University, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, 615 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. ccohn@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu
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