Investigation of the threonine metabolism of Echinococcus multilocularis: The threonine dehydrogenase as a potential drug target in alveolar echinococcosis.

Marc Kaethner, Pascal Zumstein, Joachim Müller, Matías Preza, Philipp Grossenbacher, Anissa Bartetzko, Laura Vetter, Martin Lochner, Stefan Schürch, Clement Regnault, Daniel Villalobos Ramírez, Britta Lundström-Stadelmann
{"title":"Investigation of the threonine metabolism of Echinococcus multilocularis: The threonine dehydrogenase as a potential drug target in alveolar echinococcosis.","authors":"Marc Kaethner, Pascal Zumstein, Joachim Müller, Matías Preza, Philipp Grossenbacher, Anissa Bartetzko, Laura Vetter, Martin Lochner, Stefan Schürch, Clement Regnault, Daniel Villalobos Ramírez, Britta Lundström-Stadelmann","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpddr.2025.100581","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is a severe zoonotic disease caused by the metacestode stage of the fox tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis. We recently showed that E. multilocularis metacestode vesicles scavenge large amounts of L-threonine from the culture medium. This motivated us to study the effect of L-threonine on the parasite and how it is metabolized. We established a novel metacestode vesicle growth assay with an automated readout, which showed that L-threonine treatment led to significantly increased parasite growth. In addition, L-threonine increased the formation of novel metacestode vesicles from primary parasite cell cultures in contrast to the non-proteinogenic threonine analog 3-hydroxynorvaline. Tracing of [U-<sup>13</sup>C]-L-threonine and metabolites in metacestode vesicles and culture medium resulted in the detection of [U-<sup>13</sup>C]-labeling in aminoacetone and glycine, indicating that L-threonine was metabolized by threonine dehydrogenase (TDH). EmTDH-mediated threonine metabolism in the E. multilocularis metacestode stage was further confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR, which demonstrated high expression of emtdh in in vitro cultured metacestode vesicles and also in metacestode samples obtained from infected animals. EmTDH was enzymatically active in metacestode vesicle extracts. The compounds disulfiram, myricetin, quercetin, sanguinarine, and seven quinazoline carboxamides were evaluated for their ability to inhibit recombinantly expressed EmTDH. The most potent inhibitors, albeit not very strong or highly specific, were disulfiram, myricetin and sanguinarine. These compounds were subsequently tested for activity against E. multilocularis metacestode vesicles and primary parasite cells and only sanguinarine demonstrated significant in vitro activity. However, TDH is not its only cellular target, and it is also known to be highly toxic. Our findings suggest that additional targets of sanguinarine should be explored, and that it may serve as a foundation for developing more specific compounds against the parasite. Moreover, the EmTDH assay could be a valuable high-throughput, target-based platform for discovering novel anti-echinococcal compounds.</p>","PeriodicalId":13775,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for Parasitology: Drugs and Drug Resistance","volume":"27 ","pages":"100581"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal for Parasitology: Drugs and Drug Resistance","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpddr.2025.100581","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PARASITOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is a severe zoonotic disease caused by the metacestode stage of the fox tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis. We recently showed that E. multilocularis metacestode vesicles scavenge large amounts of L-threonine from the culture medium. This motivated us to study the effect of L-threonine on the parasite and how it is metabolized. We established a novel metacestode vesicle growth assay with an automated readout, which showed that L-threonine treatment led to significantly increased parasite growth. In addition, L-threonine increased the formation of novel metacestode vesicles from primary parasite cell cultures in contrast to the non-proteinogenic threonine analog 3-hydroxynorvaline. Tracing of [U-13C]-L-threonine and metabolites in metacestode vesicles and culture medium resulted in the detection of [U-13C]-labeling in aminoacetone and glycine, indicating that L-threonine was metabolized by threonine dehydrogenase (TDH). EmTDH-mediated threonine metabolism in the E. multilocularis metacestode stage was further confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR, which demonstrated high expression of emtdh in in vitro cultured metacestode vesicles and also in metacestode samples obtained from infected animals. EmTDH was enzymatically active in metacestode vesicle extracts. The compounds disulfiram, myricetin, quercetin, sanguinarine, and seven quinazoline carboxamides were evaluated for their ability to inhibit recombinantly expressed EmTDH. The most potent inhibitors, albeit not very strong or highly specific, were disulfiram, myricetin and sanguinarine. These compounds were subsequently tested for activity against E. multilocularis metacestode vesicles and primary parasite cells and only sanguinarine demonstrated significant in vitro activity. However, TDH is not its only cellular target, and it is also known to be highly toxic. Our findings suggest that additional targets of sanguinarine should be explored, and that it may serve as a foundation for developing more specific compounds against the parasite. Moreover, the EmTDH assay could be a valuable high-throughput, target-based platform for discovering novel anti-echinococcal compounds.

查看原文
分享 分享
微信好友 朋友圈 QQ好友 复制链接
本刊更多论文
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 去求助
来源期刊
CiteScore
7.90
自引率
7.50%
发文量
31
审稿时长
48 days
期刊介绍: The International Journal for Parasitology – Drugs and Drug Resistance is one of a series of specialist, open access journals launched by the International Journal for Parasitology. It publishes the results of original research in the area of anti-parasite drug identification, development and evaluation, and parasite drug resistance. The journal also covers research into natural products as anti-parasitic agents, and bioactive parasite products. Studies can be aimed at unicellular or multicellular parasites of human or veterinary importance.
期刊最新文献
Investigation of the threonine metabolism of Echinococcus multilocularis: The threonine dehydrogenase as a potential drug target in alveolar echinococcosis. 3'-deoxytubercidin: A potent therapeutic candidate for the treatment of Surra and Dourine. Biotransformation of anthelmintics in nematodes in relation to drug resistance. Modified dosing schedule efficacy of fosmidomycin and clindamycin against murine malaria Plasmodium berghei. Quantitative DNA metabarcoding reveals species composition of a macrocyclic lactone and pyrantel resistant cyathostomin population in the UK.
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
现在去查看 取消
×
提示
确定
0
微信
客服QQ
Book学术公众号 扫码关注我们
反馈
×
意见反馈
请填写您的意见或建议
请填写您的手机或邮箱
已复制链接
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
×
扫码分享
扫码分享
Book学术官方微信
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术
文献互助 智能选刊 最新文献 互助须知 联系我们:info@booksci.cn
Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。
Copyright © 2023 Book学术 All rights reserved.
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号 京ICP备2023020795号-1