Substrate specificity of the neutral sphingomyelinase from Trypanosoma brucei.

ABSTRACT: The kinetoplastid parasite Trypanosoma brucei causes African trypanosomiasis in both humans and animals. Infections place a significant health and economic burden on developing nations in sub-Saharan Africa, but few effective anti-parasitic treatments are currently available. Hence, there is an urgent need to identify new leads for drug development. The T. brucei neutral sphingomyelinase (TbnSMase) was previously established as essential to parasite survival, consequently being identified as a potential drug target. This enzyme may catalyse the single route to sphingolipid catabolism outside the T. brucei lysosome. To obtain new insight into parasite sphingolipid catabolism, the substrate specificity of TbnSMase was investigated using electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-M

SUBMITTER: Dickie EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6398584 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature