Publication: Malarial (Plasmodium falciparum) dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase: Structural basis for antifolate resistance and development of effective inhibitors
Issued Date
2005-03-01
Resource Type
ISSN
00311820
Other identifier(s)
2-s2.0-15944393815
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Mahidol University
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SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
Parasitology. Vol.130, No.3 (2005), 249-259
Suggested Citation
Y. Yuthavong, J. Yuvaniyama, P. Chitnumsub, J. Vanichtanankul, S. Chusacultanachai, B. Tarnchompoo, T. Vilaivan, S. Kamchonwongpaisan Malarial (Plasmodium falciparum) dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase: Structural basis for antifolate resistance and development of effective inhibitors. Parasitology. Vol.130, No.3 (2005), 249-259. doi:10.1017/S003118200400664X Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/16224
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Title
Malarial (Plasmodium falciparum) dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase: Structural basis for antifolate resistance and development of effective inhibitors
Abstract
Dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase (DHFR-TS) from Plasmodium falciparum, a validated target for antifolate antimalarials, is a dimeric enzyme with interdomain interactions significantly mediated by the junction region as well as the Plasmodium-specific additional sequences (inserts) in the DHFR domain. The X-ray structures of both the wild-type and mutant enzymes associated with drug resistance, in complex with either a drug which lost, or which still retains, effectiveness for the mutants, reveal features which explain the basis of drug resistance resulting from mutations around the active site. Binding of rigid inhibitors like pyrimethamine and cycloguanil to the enzyme active site is affected by steric conflict with the side-chains of mutated residues 108 and 16, as well as by changes in the main chain configuration. The role of important residues on binding of inhibitors and substrates was further elucidated by site-directed and random mutagenesis studies. Guided by the active site structure and modes of inhibitor binding, new inhibitors with high affinity against both wild-type and mutant enzymes have been designed and synthesized, some of which have very potent anti-malarial activities against drug-resistant P. falciparum bearing the mutant enzymes. © 2005 Cambridge University Press.