Open AccessBioinformatics of thymidine metabolism in Trypanosoma evansi: exploring nucleoside deoxyribosyltransferase (NDRT) as a drug target
Author(s) -
Mahmoud Kandeel,
Maathir N Alhumam,
Abdulla AlTaher
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
tropical biomedicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.271
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 2521-9855
pISSN - 0127-5720
DOI - 10.47665/tb.38.3.071
Subject(s) - trypanosoma evansi , biology , thymidine , nucleoside , thymidine phosphorylase , thymine , crithidia , trypanosoma , trypanosoma vivax , trypanosomiasis , virology , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , enzyme , protozoa , in vitro , dna
Trypanosoma evansi, the causative agent of surra or camel trypanosomiasis, is characterized by the widest geographic distribution and host range among the known trypanosomes. Its zoonotic importance and increasing evidence of drug resistance necessitate the discovery of new drug targets. The drug discovery process entails finding an exploitable difference between the host and the parasite. In this study, the thymidine metabolic pathways in camel and T. evansi were compared by analyzing their metabolic maps, protein sequences, domain and motif contents, phylogenetic relationships, and 3D structure models. The two organisms were revealed to recycle thymidine differently: performed by thymidine phosphorylase in camels (Camelus genus), this role in T. evansi was associated with nucleoside deoxyribosyltransferase (NDRT), a unique trypanosomal enzyme absent in camels. Thymidine in T. evansi seems to be governed by thymine through NDRT, whereas in camels, thymidine can be produced from thymidylate via 5'-nucleotidase. As a result, NDRT may be a promising drug target against T. evansi.