Insights into riboflavin metabolism of Trypanosoma cruzi, Trypanosoma brucei and Leishmania mexicana

BALCAZAR DE; BONOMI HR; PEREIRA CA; GOLDBAUM FA; CARRILLO C

Buenos Aires

Congreso; Reunión SAIB 2013; 2013

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación Bioquímica y Biología Molecular

Riboflavin is an essential vitamin. Plants, fungus and prokaryotes synthesize it de novo while metazoans obtain it from their diet through specific transporters. In this work we study riboflavin metabolism in Trypanosoma cruzi, T brucei and Leishmania mexicana. Bioinformatics analysis of T. cruzi?s genome suggested it was auxotrophic for riboflavin and we found a putative transporter for this vitamin, similar to that of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The same sequence was found in Trypanosoma brucei and Leishmania Mexicana. Proliferation of T. cruzi, T. brucei and L. mexicana was tested under different concentrations of riboflavin and analogs. The growth rate of the three parasites was reduced in sub-optimal concentrations of riboflavin, as in presence of analogs, in a dose dependent manner. 3H-riboflavin transport assays of T. cruzi epimastigotes showed that the parasites incorporate riboflavin (initial velocity: 0.7 fmol/min/10e7 cells at 2.5 uM riboflavin). Our results suggest that riboflavin is essential for the proliferation of trypanosomatids. The putative transporter identified in the genome of these parasites is substantially different to those found in mammals. This makes it a potential target for inhibition or transport of toxic analogs, in the development of new trypanocidal molecules.