TY - JOUR
T1 - Purine salvage in Leishmania
T2 - Complex or simple by design?
AU - Boitz, Jan M.
AU - Ullman, Buddy
AU - Jardim, Armando
AU - Carter, Nicola S.
N1 - Funding Information:
The research detailed in this article was supported in part by grants AI023682, AI044138, and NS065405 from the National Institutes of Health, and a Discovery grant from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
PY - 2012/8
Y1 - 2012/8
N2 - Purine nucleotides function in a variety of vital cellular and metabolic processes including energy production, cell signaling, synthesis of vitamin-derived cofactors and nucleic acids, and as determinants of cell fate. Unlike their mammalian and insect hosts, Leishmania cannot synthesize the purine ring de novo and are absolutely dependent upon them to meet their purine requirements. The obligatory nature of purine salvage in these parasites, therefore, offers an attractive paradigm for drug targeting and, consequently, the delineation of the pathway has been under scientific investigation for over 30 years. Here, we review recent developments that reveal how purines flux in Leishmania and offer a potential 'Achilles' heel' for future validation.
AB - Purine nucleotides function in a variety of vital cellular and metabolic processes including energy production, cell signaling, synthesis of vitamin-derived cofactors and nucleic acids, and as determinants of cell fate. Unlike their mammalian and insect hosts, Leishmania cannot synthesize the purine ring de novo and are absolutely dependent upon them to meet their purine requirements. The obligatory nature of purine salvage in these parasites, therefore, offers an attractive paradigm for drug targeting and, consequently, the delineation of the pathway has been under scientific investigation for over 30 years. Here, we review recent developments that reveal how purines flux in Leishmania and offer a potential 'Achilles' heel' for future validation.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.pt.2012.05.005
DO - 10.1016/j.pt.2012.05.005
M3 - Review article
C2 - 22726696
AN - SCOPUS:84863844968
SN - 1471-4922
VL - 28
SP - 345
EP - 352
JO - Trends in Parasitology
JF - Trends in Parasitology
IS - 8
ER -