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Metabolomic analyses of the malaria parasite after inhibition of polyamine biosynthesis

Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2009.

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Other Authors: Birkholtz, Lyn-Marie
Format: Thesis
Published: University of Pretoria 2013
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Birkholtz, Lyn-Marie
author_browse Birkholtz, Lyn-Marie
author_facet Birkholtz, Lyn-Marie
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2009, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretori
description Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2009.
format Thesis
id oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/28508
institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:39:54.193Z
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provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2013
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publishDateSort 2013
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
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source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/28508 Metabolomic analyses of the malaria parasite after inhibition of polyamine biosynthesis Birkholtz, Lyn-Marie Louw, Abraham Izak upetd@up.ac.za Reeksting, S.B. (Shaun Bernard) Malaria parasite Pfspdsyn inhibitors Pfodc-adometdc inhibition Polyamine biosynthesis UCTD Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2009. Malaria, a disease transmitted by female mosquitoes, has plagued the world for many centuries. The disease is associated with high mortality rates, severe poverty, and economic burden. These are factors which hamper effective eradication of the disease. Drug resistant forms of the parasite have caused increasing concerns and questioned the longevity of current effective antimalarials. Efforts are therefore aimed at the identification and exploitation of essential parasite proteins as potential drug targets. The polyamine pathway of Plasmodium falciparum is an exploitable pathway which contains two distinct, chemically validated drug targets; a bifunctional PfAdoMetDC-ODC protein and PfSpdSyn. These enzymes ensure intricate regulation of polyamine production and the pathway contains various distinctive features which could be selectively targetable from the mammalian counterpart pathways. However, inhibition of polyamine production through the use of specific enzyme inhibitors has revealed various compensatory responses that negate the efficacy of these inhibitors. An account is given of the metabolomic fluctuations in the parasite during inhibition of polyamine biosynthesis. From co-inhibited P. falciparum extracts, it could be demonstrated that the characteristic growth-arrest coincided with the depletion in spermidine, the metabolic product of PfSpdSyn. The co-inhibition strategy therefore emphasised the importance of spermidine biosynthesis by PfSpdSyn. Moreover, adenosyl-related metabolite levels were not disrupted during polyamine depletion, supporting the notion that these metabolites are intricately recycled within the parasites. The identified metabolic compensatory mechanisms have further potential for exploitation, and can strategically be combined with polyamine biosynthesis inhibition to ensure parasitic attenuation. In addition, several novel inhibitors were previously computationally identified, based on a dynamic receptor-based pharmacophore model of PfSpdSyn. The in vitro inhibiting activity of these compounds was determined against PfSpdSyn. Results from the in vitro experiments supported the in silico predictions, and emphasized the supportive role of pharmacophore modelling has for the identification of novel inhibitors. The research contributed in understanding parasitic polyamine metabolite regulation, and will aid in the future optimization of therapeutic strategies, aimed at exploitation of the polyamine pathway as a potential antimalarial drug target. Copyright Biochemistry unrestricted 2013-09-07T13:38:50Z 2009-10-29 2013-09-07T13:38:50Z 2009-09-02 2009-10-29 2009-10-07 Dissertation Reeksting, SB, P 2009, Metabolomic analyses of the malaria parasite after inhibition of polyamine biosynthesis, MSc dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/ etd-10072009-162558/> C194/gm http://hdl.handle.net/2263/28508 http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-10072009-162558/ © 2009, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretori application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle Malaria parasite
Pfspdsyn inhibitors
Pfodc-adometdc inhibition
Polyamine biosynthesis
UCTD
Metabolomic analyses of the malaria parasite after inhibition of polyamine biosynthesis
title Metabolomic analyses of the malaria parasite after inhibition of polyamine biosynthesis
title_full Metabolomic analyses of the malaria parasite after inhibition of polyamine biosynthesis
title_fullStr Metabolomic analyses of the malaria parasite after inhibition of polyamine biosynthesis
title_full_unstemmed Metabolomic analyses of the malaria parasite after inhibition of polyamine biosynthesis
title_short Metabolomic analyses of the malaria parasite after inhibition of polyamine biosynthesis
title_sort metabolomic analyses of the malaria parasite after inhibition of polyamine biosynthesis
topic Malaria parasite
Pfspdsyn inhibitors
Pfodc-adometdc inhibition
Polyamine biosynthesis
UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/28508
http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-10072009-162558/