The pentose phosphate pathway in Trypanosoma cruzi: a potential target for the chemotherapy of Chagas disease.

Trypanosoma cruzi is highly sensitive to oxidative stress caused by reactive oxygen species. Trypanothione, the parasite's major protection against oxidative stress, is kept reduced by trypanothione reductase, using NADPH; the major source of the reduced coenzyme seems to be the pentose phosphate pathway. Its seven enzymes are present in the four major stages in the parasite's biological cycle; we have cloned and expressed them in Escherichia coli as active proteins. Glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase, which controls glucose flux through the pathway by its response to the NADP/NADPH ratio, is encoded by a number of genes per haploid genome, and is induced up to 46-fold by hydrogen peroxide in metacyclic trypomastigotes. The genes encoding 6-phosphogluconolactonase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, transaldolase and transketolase are present in the CL Brener clone as a single copy per haploid genome. 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase is very unstable, but was stabilized introducing two salt bridges by site-directed mutagenesis. Ribose-5-phosphate isomerase belongs to Type B; genes encoding Type A enzymes, present in mammals, are absent. Ribulose-5-phosphate epimerase is encoded by two genes. The enzymes of the pathway have a major cytosolic component, although several of them have a secondary glycosomal localization, and also minor localizations in other organelles.