Trypanosoma brucei adenine-phosphoribosyltransferases mediate adenine salvage and aminopurinol susceptibility but not adenine toxicity.

ABSTRACT: African trypanosomes, like all obligate parasitic protozoa, cannot synthesize purines de novo and import purines from their hosts to build nucleic acids. The purine salvage pathways of Trypanosoma brucei being redundant, none of the involved enzymes is likely to be essential. Nevertheless they can be of pharmacological interest due to their role in activation of purine nucleobase or nucleoside analogues, which only become toxic when converted to nucleotides. Aminopurine antimetabolites, in particular, are potent trypanocides and even adenine itself is toxic to trypanosomes at elevated concentrations. Here we report on the T. brucei adenine phosphoribosyltransferases TbAPRT1 and TbAPRT2, encoded by the two genes Tb927.7.1780 and Tb927.7.1790, located in tandem on chromosome seven. The dupli

SUBMITTER: Luscher A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3940079 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature