Dichloroacetate and Pyruvate Metabolism: Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Kinases as Targets Worth Investigating for Effective Therapy of Toxoplasmosis.

ABSTRACT: Toxoplasmosis, a protozoan infection caused by Toxoplasma gondii, is estimated to affect around 2.5 billion people worldwide. Nevertheless, the side effects of drugs combined with the long period of therapy usually result in discontinuation of the treatment. New therapies should be developed by exploring peculiarities of the parasite's metabolic pathways, similarly to what has been well described in cancer cell metabolism. An example is the switch in the metabolism of cancer that blocks the conversion of pyruvate into acetyl coenzyme A in mitochondria. In this context, dichloroacetate (DCA) is an anticancer drug that reverts the tumor proliferation by inhibiting the enzymes responsible for this switch: the pyruvate dehydrogenase kinases (PDKs). DCA has also been used in the treatmen

SUBMITTER: Ferrarini MG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7845590 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature