Repurposing the open access malaria box reveals compounds with activity against Tritrichomonas foetus trophozoites.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Martin KA
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7326994 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:The apicomplexan parasites Cryptosporidium parvum and Cryptosporidium hominis are major etiologic agents of human cryptosporidiosis. The infection is typically self-limited in immunocompetent adults, but it can cause chronic fulminant diarrhea in immunocompromised patients and malnutrition and stunting in children. Nitazoxanide, the current standard of care for cryptosporidiosis, is only partially efficacious for children and is no more effective than a placebo for AIDS patients. Unfortunately, financial obstacles to drug discovery for diseases that disproportionately affect low-income countries and technical limitations associated with studies of Cryptosporidium biology impede the development of better drugs for treating cryptosporidiosis. Using a cell-based high-throughput screen, we queried the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) Open Access Malaria Box for activity against C. parvum. We identified 3 novel chemical series derived from the quinolin-8-ol, allopurinol-based, and 2,4-diamino-quinazoline chemical scaffolds that exhibited submicromolar potency against C. parvum. Potency was conserved in a subset of compounds from each scaffold with varied physicochemical properties, and two of the scaffolds identified exhibit more rapid inhibition of C. parvum growth than nitazoxanide, making them excellent candidates for further development. The 2,4-diamino-quinazoline and allopurinol-based compounds were also potent growth inhibitors of the related apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, and a good correlation was observed in the relative activities of the compounds in the allopurinol-based series against T. gondii and C. parvum. Taken together, these data illustrate the utility of the Open Access Malaria Box as a source of both potential leads for drug development and chemical probes to elucidate basic biological processes in C. parvum and other apicomplexan parasites.
| S-EPMC3993250 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Toxoplasmosis and amebiasis are important public health concerns worldwide. The drugs currently available to control these diseases have proven limitations. Therefore, innovative approaches should be adopted to identify and develop new leads from novel scaffolds exhibiting novel modes of action. In this paper, we describe results from the screening of compounds in the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) open access Malaria Box in a search for new anti-Toxoplasma and anti-Entamoeba agents. Standard in vitro phenotypic screening procedures were adopted to assess their biological activities. Seven anti-Toxoplasma compounds with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of <5 μM and selectivity indexes (SI) of >6 were identified. The most interesting compound was MMV007791, a piperazine acetamide, which has an IC50 of 0.19 μM and a selectivity index of >157. Also, we identified two compounds, MMV666600 and MMV006861, with modest activities against Entamoeba histolytica, with IC50s of 10.66 μM and 15.58 μM, respectively. The anti-Toxoplasma compounds identified in this study belong to scaffold types different from those of currently used drugs, underscoring their novelty and potential as starting points for the development of new antitoxoplasmosis drugs with novel modes of action.
| S-EPMC4187973 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Bovine trichomoniasis is a sexually transmitted disease that results in infertility, abortion, and calf age variability. To date, management strategies include testing for Tritrichomonas foetus and culling of infected males. Challenges associated with testing include cost of culture medium, time and labor burden of sample incubation and processing, and adverse effects of bacterial growth on detection sensitivity. To overcome these challenges, we developed a direct reverse-transcription quantitative real-time PCR (direct RT-qPCR) utilizing smegma, eliminating the use of culture medium. In an analysis of 166 field samples (56 positives and 110 negatives as determined using microscopic reading of cultures as the reference test), the direct RT-qPCR exhibited 100% diagnostic sensitivity and 100% specificity, whereas the currently employed qPCR (culture qPCR), which utilizes cultured samples, exhibited 95% diagnostic sensitivity and 100% specificity. Agreement between direct RT-qPCR and culture qPCR was 98%. Moreover, direct RT-qPCR identified 3 more positive samples and exhibited lower quantification cycle (Cq) values among positives by culture reading than did culture qPCR (direct RT-qPCR Cq range = 14.6-32.3 vs. culture qPCR Cq range = 18.7-37.4). The direct RT-qPCR enables simplified sample collection, elimination of culture medium, faster results, applicability in cows, and lower cost than culture qPCR.
| S-EPMC6505897 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Tritrichomonas foetus Genome sequencing
| PRJNA280873 | ENA
Project description:Tritrichomonas foetus Transcriptome or Gene expression
| PRJNA246668 | ENA
Project description:Tritrichomonas foetus Raw sequence reads
| PRJNA279911 | ENA
Project description:Tritrichomonas foetus Genome sequencing
| PRJNA831592 | ENA
Project description:Tritrichomonas foetus was shown to undergo a regulatory volume increase (RVI) when it was subjected to hyperosmotic challenge, but there was no regulatory volume decrease after hypoosmotic challenge, as determined by using both light-scattering methods and measurement of intracellular water space to monitor cell volume. An investigation of T. foetus intracellular amino acids revealed a pool size (65 mM) that was similar to that of Trichomonas vaginalis but was considerably smaller than those of Giardia intestinalis and Crithidia luciliae. Changes in amino acid concentrations in response to hyperosmotic challenge were found to account for only 18% of the T. foetus RVI. The T. foetus intracellular sodium and potassium concentrations were determined to be 35 and 119 mM, respectively. The intracellular K(+) concentration was found to increase considerably during exposure to hyperosmotic stress, and, assuming that there was a monovalent accompanying anion, this increase was estimated to account for 87% of the RVI. By using light scattering it was determined that the T. foetus RVI was enhanced by elevated external K(+) concentrations and was inhibited when K(+) and/or Cl(-) was absent from the medium. The results suggested that the well-documented Na(+)-K(+)-2Cl(-) cotransport system was responsible for the K(+) influx activated during the RVI. However, inhibitors of Na(+)-K(+)-2Cl(-) cotransport in other systems, such as quinine, ouabain, furosemide, and bumetanide, had no effect on the RVI or K(+) influx in T. foetus.
| S-EPMC169155 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundWorldwide hundreds of millions of schistosomiasis patients rely on treatment with a single drug, praziquantel. Therapeutic limitations and the threat of praziquantel resistance underline the need to discover and develop next generation drugs.MethodologyWe studied the antischistosomal properties of the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) malaria box containing 200 diverse drug-like and 200 probe-like compounds with confirmed in vitro activity against Plasmodium falciparum. Compounds were tested against schistosomula and adult Schistosoma mansoni in vitro. Based on in vitro performance, available pharmacokinetic profiles and toxicity data, selected compounds were investigated in vivo.Principal findingsPromising antischistosomal activity (IC50: 1.4-9.5 µM) was observed for 34 compounds against schistosomula. Three compounds presented IC50 values between 0.8 and 1.3 µM against adult S. mansoni. Two promising early leads were identified, namely a N,N'-diarylurea and a 2,3-dianilinoquinoxaline. Treatment of S. mansoni infected mice with a single oral 400 mg/kg dose of these drugs resulted in significant worm burden reductions of 52.5% and 40.8%, respectively.Conclusions/significanceThe two candidates identified by investigating the MMV malaria box are characterized by good pharmacokinetic profiles, low cytotoxic potential and easy chemistry and therefore offer an excellent starting point for antischistosomal drug discovery and development.
| S-EPMC3886923 | biostudies-literature