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Transporters of Trypanosoma brucei —phylogeny, physiology, pharmacology
Author(s) -
Schmidt Remo S.,
Macêdo Juan P.,
Steinmann Michael E.,
Salgado Amaia González,
Bütikofer Peter,
Sigel Erwin,
Rentsch Doris,
Mäser Pascal
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the febs journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.981
H-Index - 204
eISSN - 1742-4658
pISSN - 1742-464X
DOI - 10.1111/febs.14302
Subject(s) - trypanosoma brucei , biology , transporter , trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense , african trypanosomiasis , trypanosoma , context (archaeology) , atp binding cassette transporter , trypanosomiasis , computational biology , biochemistry , virology , gene , paleontology
Trypanosoma brucei comprise the causative agents of sleeping sickness, T. b. gambiense and T. b. rhodesiense , as well as the livestock‐pathogenic T. b. brucei . The parasites are transmitted by the tsetse fly and occur exclusively in sub‐Saharan Africa. T. brucei are not only lethal pathogens but have also become model organisms for molecular parasitology. We focus here on membrane transport proteins of T. brucei , their contribution to homeostasis and metabolism in the context of a parasitic lifestyle, and their pharmacological role as potential drug targets or routes of drug entry. Transporters and channels in the plasma membrane are attractive drug targets as they are accessible from the outside. Alternatively, they can be exploited to selectively deliver harmful substances into the trypanosome's interior. Both approaches require the targeted transporter to be essential: in the first case to kill the trypanosome, in the second case to prevent drug resistance due to loss of the transporter. By combining functional and phylogenetic analyses, we were mining the T. brucei predicted proteome for transporters of pharmacological significance. Here, we review recent progress in the identification of transporters of lipid precursors, amino acid permeases and ion channels in T. brucei .