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by Keyword: Colocalization

Román-Alamo, L, Avalos-Padilla, Y, Bouzón-Arnáiz, I, Iglesias, V, Fernández-Lajo, J, Monteiro, JM, Rivas, L, Fisa, R, Riera, C, Andreu, D, Pintado-Grima, C, Ventura, S, Arce, EM, Muñoz-Torrero, D, Fernàndez-Busquets, X, (2024). Effect of the aggregated protein dye YAT2150 on Leishmania parasite viability Antimicrobial Agents And Chemotherapy 68, e01127-23

The problems associated with the drugs currently used to treat leishmaniasis, including resistance, toxicity, and the high cost of some formulations, call for the urgent identification of new therapeutic agents with novel modes of action. The aggregated protein dye YAT2150 has been found to be a potent antileishmanial compound, with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of approximately 0.5 mu M against promastigote and amastigote stages of Leishmania infantum. The encapsulation in liposomes of YAT2150 significantly improved its in vitro IC50 to 0.37 and 0.19 mu M in promastigotes and amastigotes, respectively, and increased the half-maximal cytotoxic concentration in human umbilical vein endothelial cells to >50 mu M. YAT2150 became strongly fluorescent when binding intracellular protein deposits in Leishmania cells. This fluorescence pattern aligns with the proposed mode of action of this drug in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, the inhibition of protein aggregation. In Leishmania major, YAT2150 rapidly reduced ATP levels, suggesting an alternative antileishmanial mechanism. To the best of our knowledge, this first-in-class compound is the only one described so far having significant activity against both Plasmodium and Leishmania, thus being a potential drug for the treatment of co-infections of both parasites.

JTD Keywords: Animal, Animals, Antileishmanial drugs, Antileishmanial drugs,leishmania,protein aggregation,yat215, Antiprotozoal agent, Antiprotozoal agents, Axenic amastigotes,differentiation,colocalization,identification,discovery,yeas, Endothelial cells, Endothelium cell, Human, Humans, Leishmania, Leishmania infantum, Leishmaniasis, Parasite, Parasites, Protein aggregation, Yat2150


Bouzon-Arnaiz, I, Avalos-Padilla, Y, Biosca, A, Cano-Prades, O, Roman-Alamo, L, Valle, J, Andreu, D, Moita, D, Prudencio, M, Arce, EM, Munoz-Torrero, D, Fernandez-Busquets, X, (2022). The protein aggregation inhibitor YAT2150 has potent antimalarial activity in Plasmodium falciparum in vitro cultures Bmc Biology 20, 197

Background By 2016, signs of emergence of Plasmodium falciparum resistance to artemisinin and partner drugs were detected in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Recently, the independent evolution of artemisinin resistance has also been reported in Africa and South America. This alarming scenario calls for the urgent development of new antimalarials with novel modes of action. We investigated the interference with protein aggregation, which is potentially toxic for the cell and occurs abundantly in all Plasmodium stages, as a hitherto unexplored drug target in the pathogen. Results Attempts to exacerbate the P. falciparum proteome's propensity to aggregation by delivering endogenous aggregative peptides to in vitro cultures of this parasite did not significantly affect their growth. In contrast, protein aggregation inhibitors clearly reduced the pathogen's viability. One such compound, the bis(styrylpyridinium) salt YAT2150, exhibited potent antiplasmodial activity with an in vitro IC50 of 90 nM for chloroquine- and artemisinin-resistant lines, arresting asexual blood parasites at the trophozoite stage, as well as interfering with the development of both sexual and hepatic forms of Plasmodium. At its IC50, this compound is a powerful inhibitor of the aggregation of the model amyloid beta peptide fragment 1-40, and it reduces the amount of aggregated proteins in P. falciparum cultures, suggesting that the underlying antimalarial mechanism consists in a generalized impairment of proteostasis in the pathogen. YAT2150 has an easy, rapid, and inexpensive synthesis, and because it fluoresces when it accumulates in its main localization in the Plasmodium cytosol, it is a theranostic agent. Conclusions Inhibiting protein aggregation in Plasmodium significantly reduces the parasite's viability in vitro. Since YAT2150 belongs to a novel structural class of antiplasmodials with a mode of action that potentially targets multiple gene products, rapid evolution of resistance to this drug is unlikely to occur, making it a promising compound for the post-artemisinin era.

JTD Keywords: amyloid pan-inhibitors, antimalarial drugs, malaria, plasmodium falciparum, protein aggregation, Amyloid formation, Amyloid pan-inhibitors, Antimalarial drugs, Colocalization, Cytosolic delivery, Derivatives, Disease, Drug, In-vitro, Malaria, Mechanism, Plasmodium falciparum, Polyglutamine, Protein aggregation, Yat2150