Plasmodium serine hydroxymethyltransferase as a potential anti-malarial target: inhibition studies using improved methods for enzyme production and assay.

ABSTRACT:

Background

There is an urgent need for the discovery of new anti-malarial drugs. Thus, it is essential to explore different potential new targets that are unique to the parasite or that are required for its viability in order to develop new interventions for treating the disease. Plasmodium serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT), an enzyme in the dTMP synthesis cycle, is a potential target for such new drugs, but convenient methods for producing and assaying the enzyme are still lacking, hampering the ability to screen inhibitors.

Methods

Production of recombinant Plasmodium falciparum SHMT (PfSHMT) and Plasmodium vivax SHMT (PvSHMT), using auto-induction media, were compared to those using the conventional Luria Bertani medium with isopropyl thio-β-D-galactoside (LB-IPTG) i

SUBMITTER: Sopitthummakhun K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3502260 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature