Question

1. Eukaryotic parasites and infections can be devilishly hard to treat. Why?

2. Describe in detail three different targets for treatment of eukaryotic parasites. For ease of grading make each a separate paragraph.

Answer 1

A. Eukaryotic parasites and infection can be hard to treat by following reasons -

1.Being eukaryotes, the metabolism and overall cell structure of these pathogens is similar to our own and this has important implications for disease progression and treatment.

2.A similar metabolism in eukaryotic pathogen means similar enzymes, and it is therefore more difficult to find drugs that selectively kill eukaryotic parasites.

3.Not surprisingly, many of the compounds used to treat eukaryotic pathogens have toxic side effects and must be administered with great care. Another implication is that there are relatively few drugs that can affect these pathogens without damaging the host.

4.They are highly adaptable and can become drug-resistant strains.

B.Targets for treatment of eukaryotic parasites:-

1.Targeting prokaryotic enzymes in a eukaryotic parasite: Some eukaryotic pathogen has prokaryotic enzymes coding sequence and this sequence can be target for a drug . The inhibitor of these sequence are used in drugs for treatment.

2.Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases:-Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases catalyse a two-step reaction whereby an ATP and amino acid molecule (AA) enter the active site, forming an aminoacyl-adenylate intermediate followed by the esterification of the amino acid to the 30 end of
the tRNA, forming the final ‘charged’ aminoacyl-tRNA.
This presents several sites on aaRS enzymes that may be considered for drugging purposes; a binding site for ATP, an adjacent amino acid binding site, and a fold for tRNA recognition and binding
Most aaRS inhibitors bind to the ATP and amino acid binding sites, in many cases as analogues of ATP, amino acids, or aminoacyl-adenylate intermediates.