Selective inhibitors of protozoan protein N-myristoyltransferases as starting points for tropical disease medicinal chemistry programs.

Inhibition of N-myristoyltransferase has been validated pre-clinically as a target for the treatment of fungal and trypanosome infections, using species-specific inhibitors. In order to identify inhibitors of protozoan NMTs, we chose to screen a diverse subset of the Pfizer corporate collection agai...

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Main Authors: Andrew S Bell, James E Mills, Gareth P Williams, James A Brannigan, Anthony J Wilkinson, Tanya Parkinson, Robin J Leatherbarrow, Edward W Tate, Anthony A Holder, Deborah F Smith
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2012-01-01
Series:PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0001625&type=printable
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author Andrew S Bell
James E Mills
Gareth P Williams
James A Brannigan
Anthony J Wilkinson
Tanya Parkinson
Robin J Leatherbarrow
Edward W Tate
Anthony A Holder
Deborah F Smith
author_facet Andrew S Bell
James E Mills
Gareth P Williams
James A Brannigan
Anthony J Wilkinson
Tanya Parkinson
Robin J Leatherbarrow
Edward W Tate
Anthony A Holder
Deborah F Smith
author_sort Andrew S Bell
collection DOAJ
description Inhibition of N-myristoyltransferase has been validated pre-clinically as a target for the treatment of fungal and trypanosome infections, using species-specific inhibitors. In order to identify inhibitors of protozoan NMTs, we chose to screen a diverse subset of the Pfizer corporate collection against Plasmodium falciparum and Leishmania donovani NMTs. Primary screening hits against either enzyme were tested for selectivity over both human NMT isoforms (Hs1 and Hs2) and for broad-spectrum anti-protozoan activity against the NMT from Trypanosoma brucei. Analysis of the screening results has shown that structure-activity relationships (SAR) for Leishmania NMT are divergent from all other NMTs tested, a finding not predicted by sequence similarity calculations, resulting in the identification of four novel series of Leishmania-selective NMT inhibitors. We found a strong overlap between the SARs for Plasmodium NMT and both human NMTs, suggesting that achieving an appropriate selectivity profile will be more challenging. However, we did discover two novel series with selectivity for Plasmodium NMT over the other NMT orthologues in this study, and an additional two structurally distinct series with selectivity over Leishmania NMT. We believe that release of results from this study into the public domain will accelerate the discovery of NMT inhibitors to treat malaria and leishmaniasis. Our screening initiative is another example of how a tripartite partnership involving pharmaceutical industries, academic institutions and governmental/non-governmental organisations such as Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust can stimulate research for neglected diseases.
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spelling doaj-art-f9cdeabdf89e4f4f804ccc4da454aa0f2025-08-20T02:33:12ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases1935-27271935-27352012-01-0164e162510.1371/journal.pntd.0001625Selective inhibitors of protozoan protein N-myristoyltransferases as starting points for tropical disease medicinal chemistry programs.Andrew S BellJames E MillsGareth P WilliamsJames A BranniganAnthony J WilkinsonTanya ParkinsonRobin J LeatherbarrowEdward W TateAnthony A HolderDeborah F SmithInhibition of N-myristoyltransferase has been validated pre-clinically as a target for the treatment of fungal and trypanosome infections, using species-specific inhibitors. In order to identify inhibitors of protozoan NMTs, we chose to screen a diverse subset of the Pfizer corporate collection against Plasmodium falciparum and Leishmania donovani NMTs. Primary screening hits against either enzyme were tested for selectivity over both human NMT isoforms (Hs1 and Hs2) and for broad-spectrum anti-protozoan activity against the NMT from Trypanosoma brucei. Analysis of the screening results has shown that structure-activity relationships (SAR) for Leishmania NMT are divergent from all other NMTs tested, a finding not predicted by sequence similarity calculations, resulting in the identification of four novel series of Leishmania-selective NMT inhibitors. We found a strong overlap between the SARs for Plasmodium NMT and both human NMTs, suggesting that achieving an appropriate selectivity profile will be more challenging. However, we did discover two novel series with selectivity for Plasmodium NMT over the other NMT orthologues in this study, and an additional two structurally distinct series with selectivity over Leishmania NMT. We believe that release of results from this study into the public domain will accelerate the discovery of NMT inhibitors to treat malaria and leishmaniasis. Our screening initiative is another example of how a tripartite partnership involving pharmaceutical industries, academic institutions and governmental/non-governmental organisations such as Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust can stimulate research for neglected diseases.https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0001625&type=printable
spellingShingle Andrew S Bell
James E Mills
Gareth P Williams
James A Brannigan
Anthony J Wilkinson
Tanya Parkinson
Robin J Leatherbarrow
Edward W Tate
Anthony A Holder
Deborah F Smith
Selective inhibitors of protozoan protein N-myristoyltransferases as starting points for tropical disease medicinal chemistry programs.
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
title Selective inhibitors of protozoan protein N-myristoyltransferases as starting points for tropical disease medicinal chemistry programs.
title_full Selective inhibitors of protozoan protein N-myristoyltransferases as starting points for tropical disease medicinal chemistry programs.
title_fullStr Selective inhibitors of protozoan protein N-myristoyltransferases as starting points for tropical disease medicinal chemistry programs.
title_full_unstemmed Selective inhibitors of protozoan protein N-myristoyltransferases as starting points for tropical disease medicinal chemistry programs.
title_short Selective inhibitors of protozoan protein N-myristoyltransferases as starting points for tropical disease medicinal chemistry programs.
title_sort selective inhibitors of protozoan protein n myristoyltransferases as starting points for tropical disease medicinal chemistry programs
url https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0001625&type=printable
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