{"title":"Crystal structure of glycerol kinase from Trypanosoma cruzi, a potential molecular target in Chagas disease.","authors":"Oskar Lipiński, Ravi R Sonani, Grzegorz Dubin","doi":"10.1107/S2059798324006594","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Chagas disease is a neglected tropical disease caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. It bears a significant global health burden with limited treatment options, thus calling for the development of new and effective drugs. Certain trypanosomal metabolic enzymes have been suggested to be druggable and valid for subsequent inhibition. In this study, the crystal structure of glycerol kinase from T. cruzi, a key enzyme in glycerol metabolism in this parasite, is presented. Structural analysis allowed a detailed description of the glycerol binding pocket, while comparative assessment pinpointed a potential regulatory site which may serve as a target for selective inhibition. These findings advance the understanding of glycerol metabolism in eukaryotes and provide a solid basis for the future treatment of Chagas disease.</p>","PeriodicalId":7116,"journal":{"name":"Acta Crystallographica. Section D, Structural Biology","volume":" ","pages":"629-638"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Acta Crystallographica. Section D, Structural Biology","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1107/S2059798324006594","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/7/25 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"BIOCHEMICAL RESEARCH METHODS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Chagas disease is a neglected tropical disease caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. It bears a significant global health burden with limited treatment options, thus calling for the development of new and effective drugs. Certain trypanosomal metabolic enzymes have been suggested to be druggable and valid for subsequent inhibition. In this study, the crystal structure of glycerol kinase from T. cruzi, a key enzyme in glycerol metabolism in this parasite, is presented. Structural analysis allowed a detailed description of the glycerol binding pocket, while comparative assessment pinpointed a potential regulatory site which may serve as a target for selective inhibition. These findings advance the understanding of glycerol metabolism in eukaryotes and provide a solid basis for the future treatment of Chagas disease.
期刊介绍:
Acta Crystallographica Section D welcomes the submission of articles covering any aspect of structural biology, with a particular emphasis on the structures of biological macromolecules or the methods used to determine them.
Reports on new structures of biological importance may address the smallest macromolecules to the largest complex molecular machines. These structures may have been determined using any structural biology technique including crystallography, NMR, cryoEM and/or other techniques. The key criterion is that such articles must present significant new insights into biological, chemical or medical sciences. The inclusion of complementary data that support the conclusions drawn from the structural studies (such as binding studies, mass spectrometry, enzyme assays, or analysis of mutants or other modified forms of biological macromolecule) is encouraged.
Methods articles may include new approaches to any aspect of biological structure determination or structure analysis but will only be accepted where they focus on new methods that are demonstrated to be of general applicability and importance to structural biology. Articles describing particularly difficult problems in structural biology are also welcomed, if the analysis would provide useful insights to others facing similar problems.