title: Molecules targeting the purine salvage pathway in Apicomplexan parasites.
abstract: The need of intracellular parasites to retrieve nutrients and fulfill their energy requirements is achieved by manipulating the host's metabolism. With the spread of AIDS, research on purine metabolism has gained in importance with the aim to develop drugs against opportunistic infections. Many studies over the past ten years have yielded contradictory results, but this review tries to clarify these findings by exposing the latest data concerning purine transport and the specific activities of the major enzymes of the purine salvage pathway of Toxoplasma gondii, Plasmodium falciparum and Cryptosporidium parvum.
authors.affiliation: Pharmaceutical Department of Parasitology and Medical Mycology, Claude-Bernard University Lyon I, 8 Avenue Rockefeller, 69373 Lyon Cedex 08, France.
authors.forename: Arnaud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghérardi
authors.forename: Marie-Elisabeth
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Sarciron
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents; D016785:Cryptosporidium parvum / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D009751:Nutritional Requirements; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011687:Purines / Q000378:metabolism*; D013045:Species Specificity; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents; D011687:Purines