Trypanosome Metabolism
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Group Leader Fred Opperdoes Paul Michels Contact Fred Opperdoes & Paul Michels de Duve Institute and Université catholique de Louvain TROP 7439, 74 avenue Hippocrate B-1200 Brussels phone: 32 (0)2 764 74 39 (direct) fax: 32 (0)2 762 68 53 e-mail: Frederik Opperdoes Group members > |
Research topics
1. Drug development: Trypanosomes are characterized by a unique form of metabolic compartmentation; the majority of the enzymes of the glycolytic pathway is sequestered in peroxisome-like organelles called glycosomes. Therefore the glycolytic pathway is considered a validated and promising target for new drugs to be designed. Since many years the TROP Unit studies the kinetic and structural properties of the glycolytic enzymes of Trypanosoma brucei and closely related parasites such as T. cruzi andLeishmania mexicana, and uses the collected information for the design of effective and selective inhibitors by structure-based and catalytic mechanism-based approaches.
2. Glycosome biogenesis: The unique compartmentation of the glycolytic pathway inside glycosomes, renders these organelles excellent targets for drug interference. Any drug that would interfere with the biogenesis of the organelle would have a direct effect on the parasite's glycolytic capacity. It is for this reason that the TROP Unit studies the biogenesis of glycosomes and is characterizing all the components involved in their biogenesis and their degradation.
3. Glycosome turnover: The different life-cycle stages of the trypanosome are characterized by strikingly different forms of energy metabolism. These changes involve both the trypanosome's mitochondrion and its glycosomes. During the differentiation of one life-cycle stage into another existing glycosomes are being degraded by a process called autophagy and replaced by newly formed glycosomes. The different processes leading to glycosome biogenesis and degradation are being studied.
4. Genomics and proteomics: With the completion of the TriTryp genome-sequencing projects (T. brucei, T. cruzi and L. major) , it is now possible to chart the metabolic capacities of these three organisms and to compare them not only with each other, but also with the human host. Sequence analysis, identification of metabolic enzymes and the elucidation of metabolic capacities by using both bioinformatic tools and proteomics, are quickly leading to a better understanding of the metabolic capacities of these organisms.
To know more... (pdf chapter of the last de Duve Institute report)
> More about the research projects and the unit
