Instituto de Estudios Avanzados (IDEA), Caracas, Venezuela.
Instituto de Estudios Avanzados (IDEA), Caracas, Venezuela
Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2017 Dec 21;62(1). doi: 10.1128/AAC.01614-17. Print 2018 Jan.
is the causing agent of visceral leishmaniasis, a common infection that affects millions of people from the most underdeveloped countries. Miltefosine is the only oral drug to treat infections caused by Nevertheless, its mechanism of action is not well understood. While miltefosine inhibits the synthesis of phosphatidylcholine and also affects the parasite mitochondrion, inhibiting the cytochrome oxidase, it is to be expected that this potent drug also produces its effect through other targets. In this context, it has been reported that the disruption of the intracellular Ca homeostasis represents an important object for the action of drugs in trypanosomatids. Recently, we have described a plasma membrane Ca channel in , which is similar to the L-type voltage-gated Ca channel (VGCC) present in humans. Remarkably, the parasite Ca channel is activated by sphingosine, while the L-type VGCC is not affected by this sphingolipid. In the present work we demonstrated that, similarly to sphingosine, miltefosine is able to activate the plasma membrane Ca channel from Interestingly, nifedipine, the classical antagonist of the human channel, was not able to fully block the parasite plasma membrane Ca channel, indicating that the mechanism of interaction is not identical to that of sphingosine. In this work we also show that miltefosine is able to strongly affect the acidocalcisomes from , inducing the rapid alkalinization of these important organelles. In conclusion, we demonstrate two new mechanisms of action of miltefosine in , both related to disruption of parasite Ca homeostasis.
是内脏利什曼病的病原体,这是一种常见的感染,影响着来自最不发达国家的数百万人。米替福新是唯一用于治疗由 引起的感染的口服药物。然而,其作用机制尚不清楚。虽然米替福新抑制磷脂酰胆碱的合成,也影响寄生虫线粒体,抑制细胞色素 氧化酶,但可以预料,这种强效药物也通过其他靶点产生作用。在这种情况下,据报道,细胞内 Ca 稳态的破坏是针对锥虫的药物作用的一个重要目标。最近,我们在 中描述了一种质膜 Ca 通道,它类似于人类存在的 L 型电压门控 Ca 通道(VGCC)。值得注意的是,寄生虫 Ca 通道被神经酰胺激活,而 L 型 VGCC 不受这种鞘脂的影响。在本工作中,我们证明,类似于神经酰胺,米替福新能够激活 中的质膜 Ca 通道。有趣的是,硝苯地平,即人类通道的经典拮抗剂,不能完全阻断寄生虫质膜 Ca 通道,表明相互作用的机制与神经酰胺不同。在这项工作中,我们还表明,米替福新能够强烈影响 中的酸钙小体,诱导这些重要细胞器的快速碱化。总之,我们证明了米替福新在 中有两种新的作用机制,都与破坏寄生虫 Ca 稳态有关。