Rico Eva, Oliva Cristina, Gutierrez Kilian Jesús, Alzate Juan Fernando, Genes Carlos Mario, Moreno David, Casanova Elena, Gigante Alba, Pérez-Pérez María-Jesús, Camarasa María-José, Clos Joachim, Gago Federico, Jiménez-Ruiz Antonio
Departamento de Biología de Sistemas-Unidad Asociada al Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.
Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.
PLoS One. 2014 Feb 26;9(2):e89526. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0089526. eCollection 2014.
EndoG, a member of the DNA/RNA non-specific ββα-metal family of nucleases, has been demonstrated to be present in many organisms, including Trypanosomatids. This nuclease participates in the apoptotic program in these parasites by migrating from the mitochondrion to the nucleus, where it takes part in the degradation of genomic DNA that characterizes this process. We now demonstrate that Leishmania infantum EndoG (LiEndoG) is an endo-exonuclease that has a preferential 5' exonuclease activity on linear DNA. Regardless of its role during apoptotic cell death, this enzyme seems to be necessary during normal development of the parasites as indicated by the reduced growth rates observed in LiEndoG hemi-knockouts and their poor infectivity in differentiated THP-1 cells. The pro-life role of this protein is also corroborated by the higher survival rates of parasites that over-express this protein after treatment with the LiEndoG inhibitor Lei49. Taken together, our results demonstrate that this enzyme plays essential roles in both survival and death of Leishmania parasites.
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