First evidences of the role of pantothenate in Trypanosoma cruzi

FRACCAROLI L; BALCAZAR DE; SBARAGLINI ML; LAROCCA L; TALEVI A; CARRILLO C

Chascomus

Jornada; XVI Jornadas Anuales SAB; 2014

SAB

Chagas disease is an endemic parasitosis in Latin-America, caused by infection with the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. The current therapies are highly toxic and limited in efficacy, thus there is a need to identify targets to develop new treatments. Vitamins are essential micronutrients for all living cells; many organisms synthesize them de novo while others obtain them through specific transporters. The aim of this work was to study the effect of different B vitamins on T. cruzi. Assays performed in T. cruzi epimastigotes cultured in absence of these vitamins showed different responses in their proliferation rate, being pantothenate the vitamin that significantly reduced maximal density. The antiproliferative effect was recovered adding pantothenate, in a dose dependent way. Although viability was not affected, changes in pantothenate concentration affected the metacyclogenesis process. Finally, bioinformatic analysis of T. cruzi genome suggested it is auxotrophic for pantothenate and we found a putative transporter for this vitamin, similar to that described in fungus Aspergillus flavus. As pantothenate seems to play a key role in T. cruzi metabolism, a further characterization of this transporter would allow us to find potential target/s for new trypanocidal drugs.