Search

Nucleoside diphosphate kinases (NDPK) are key enzymes involved in the intracellular nucleotide maintenance in all living organisms, especially in trypanosomatids which are unable to synthesise purines de novo. Four putative NDPK isoforms were identified in the Trypanosoma cruzi Chagas, 1909 genome but only two of them were characterised so far. In this work, we studied a novel isoform from T. cruzi called TcNDPK3. This enzyme presents an atypical N-terminal extension similar to the DM10 domains. In T. cruzi, DM10 sequences targeted other NDPK isoform (TcNDPK2) to the cytoskeleton, but TcNDPK3 was localised in glycosomes despite lacking a typical peroxisomal targeting signal. In addition, TcNDPK3 was found only in the bloodstream trypomastigotes where glycolytic enzymes are very abundant. However, TcNDPK3 mRNA was also detected at lower levels in amastigotes suggesting regulation at protein and mRNA level. Finally, 33 TcNDPK3 gene orthologs were identified in the available kinetoplastid genomes. The characterisation of new glycosomal enzymes provides novel targets for drug development to use in therapies of trypanosomatid associated diseases.

Trypanosoma cruzi, the aetiological agent of Chagas' disease, is exposed to extremely different environment conditions during its life cycle, and transporters are key molecules for its adaptive regulation. Amino acids, and particularly arginine, are essential components in T. cruzi metabolism. In this work, a novel T. cruzi arginine permease was identified by screening different members of the AAAP family (amino acid/auxin permeases) in yeast complementation assays using a toxic arginine analogue. One gene candidate, TcAAAP411, was characterized as a very specific, high-affinity, l-arginine permease. This work is the first identification of the molecular components involved specifically in amino acid transport in T. cruzi and provides new insights for further validation of the TcAAAP family as functional permeases.