The Open Parasitology Journal

2010, 4 : 111-115
Published online 2010 December 10. DOI: 10.2174/1874421401004010111
Publisher ID: TOPARAJ-4-111

RESEARCH ARTICLE
 The trans-Sialidase from a Putative Target for Trypanocidal Agents

Lucia Mendonça-Previato, * , Adriane Regina Todeschini , Leonardo Freire de Lima and Jose Osvaldo Previato
Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Centro de Ciências da Saúde – Bloco G, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro – 21 944 970, Cidade Universitária, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro-RJ, Brasil.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Centro de Ciências da Saúde – Bloco G, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro – 21 944 970, Cidade Universitária, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro-RJ, Brasil; Tel: +552125626646; Fax: +552122808193; E-mail: luciamp@biof.ufrj.br

ABSTRACT

Trypanosomatid protozoa are parasites of considerable medical and economical importance because they are the causative agents of chronic human and livestock diseases endemic in developing countries. Trypanosoma cruzi is the causative agent of Chagas´ disease, present in most of Latin America. The biology of this parasite presents some unusual features, one of which is the mechanism employed for the addition of sialic acid units to its own glycoproteins, the mucinlike molecules, or to exogenous glycoconjugates. This is mediated by a transglycosylase for sialic acid known as transsialidase and located on the external surface of the parasite, rather than by an intracellular CMP-sialic acid-dependent sialyltransferase. The Trypanosoma cruzi trans-sialidase is thought to play an important role in the pathogenesis of Chagas’ disease, and it represents a potential therapeutic target.

Keywords:

, Chagas´ disease, protein kinases, trans-sialidase, Mechanism of catalysis.