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Chemotherapy of human sleeping sickness, a fatal disease caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei, is in a dismal state, and the identification and characterization of new drug targets is an urgent prerequisite for an improvement of the dramatic situation in the field. Over the last several years, inhibitors of cyclic nucleotide-specific phosphodiesterases have proven to be highly successful drug candidates for an assortment of clinical conditions. Their potential as antiparasitic drugs has not been explored so far. This study reports the characterization of a cAMP-specific phosphodiesterase from T. brucei, TbPDE2C. This enzyme is a class I phosphodiesterase, and it is a member of a small enzyme family in T. brucei, TbPDE2. Inhibitors of this enzyme block the proliferation of bloodstream form trypanosomes in culture. RNA interference experiments demonstrated that the TbPDE2 family, and in particular TbPDE2C, are essential for maintaining intracellular cAMP concentrations within a physiological range. Bloodstream form trypanosomes are exquisitely sensitive to elevated concentrations of intracellular cAMP, and a disruption of TbPDE2C function quickly leads to the disruption of nuclear and cellular cell division, and to cell death. TbPDE2C might represent a novel drug target for the development of new and effective trypanocidal drugs.

The cAMP-specific phosphodiesterase TbPDE2C is an essential enzyme in bloodstream form Trypanosoma brucei