1. Academic Validation
  2. Reaction hijacking of tyrosine tRNA synthetase as a new whole-of-life-cycle antimalarial strategy

Reaction hijacking of tyrosine tRNA synthetase as a new whole-of-life-cycle antimalarial strategy

  • Science. 2022 Jun 3;376(6597):1074-1079. doi: 10.1126/science.abn0611.
Stanley C Xie # 1 Riley D Metcalfe # 1 Elyse Dunn 1 Craig J Morton 1 Shih-Chung Huang 2 Tanya Puhalovich 1 Yawei Du 1 Sergio Wittlin 3 4 Shuai Nie 5 Madeline R Luth 6 Liting Ma 2 Mi-Sook Kim 2 Charisse Flerida A Pasaje 7 Krittikorn Kumpornsin 8 Carlo Giannangelo 9 Fiona J Houghton 1 Alisje Churchyard 10 Mufuliat T Famodimu 10 Daniel C Barry 1 David L Gillett 1 Sumanta Dey 7 Clara C Kosasih 1 William Newman 1 Jacquin C Niles 7 Marcus C S Lee 8 Jake Baum 10 Sabine Ottilie 6 Elizabeth A Winzeler 6 Darren J Creek 9 Nicholas Williamson 5 Michael W Parker 1 11 Stephen Brand 12 Steven P Langston # 2 Lawrence R Dick # 1 13 Michael D W Griffin # 1 Alexandra E Gould # 2 Leann Tilley # 1
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia.
  • 2 Takeda Development Center Americas, Inc., Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
  • 3 Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, 4051 Basel, Switzerland.
  • 4 University of Basel, 4003 Basel, Switzerland.
  • 5 Melbourne Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics Facility, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia.
  • 6 Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
  • 7 Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
  • 8 Parasites and Microbes Programme, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton CB10 1SA, UK.
  • 9 Drug Delivery, Disposition, and Dynamics, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia.
  • 10 Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
  • 11 St. Vincent's Institute of Medical Research, Fitzroy, VIC 3065, Australia.
  • 12 Medicines for Malaria Venture, P.O. Box 1826, 20, Route de Pré-Bois, 1215 Geneva 15, Switzerland.
  • 13 Seofon Consulting, Natick, MA 01760, USA.
  • # Contributed equally.
Abstract

Aminoacyl transfer RNA (tRNA) synthetases (aaRSs) are attractive drug targets, and we present class I and II aaRSs as previously unrecognized targets for adenosine 5'-monophosphate-mimicking nucleoside sulfamates. The target enzyme catalyzes the formation of an inhibitory amino acid-sulfamate conjugate through a reaction-hijacking mechanism. We identified adenosine 5'-sulfamate as a broad-specificity compound that hijacks a range of aaRSs and ML901 as a specific reagent a specific reagent that hijacks a single aaRS in the malaria Parasite Plasmodium falciparum, namely tyrosine RS (PfYRS). ML901 exerts whole-life-cycle-killing activity with low nanomolar potency and single-dose efficacy in a mouse model of malaria. X-ray crystallographic studies of Plasmodium and human YRSs reveal differential flexibility of a loop over the catalytic site that underpins differential susceptibility to reaction hijacking by ML901.

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