The trypanosome alternative oxidase : a potential drug target?

New drugs against Trypanosoma brucei, the causative agent of Human African Trypanosomiasis, are urgently needed to replace the highly toxic and largely ineffective therapies currently used. The trypanosome alternative oxidase (TAO) is an essential and unique mitochondrial protein in these parasites and is absent from mammalian mitochondria, making it an attractive drug target. The structure and function of the protein are now well characterized, with several inhibitors reported in the literature which show potential as clinical drug candidates. In this review we provide an update on the functional activity and structural aspects of TAO. We then discuss TAO inhibitors reported to date, problems encountered with in vivo testing of these compounds, and discuss the future of TAO as a therapeutic target.

Citation

Menzies , S K , Tulloch , L B , Florence , G J & Smith , T K 2018 , ' The trypanosome alternative oxidase : a potential drug target? ' , Parasitology , vol. 145 , no. 2 , pp. 175-183 . https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182016002109

Publication

Parasitology

Status

Peer reviewed

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182016002109

ISSN

0031-1820

Type

Journal item

Rights

© Cambridge University Press 2016. This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at www.cambridge.org / https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182016002109

Collections

University of St Andrews Research

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10023/10874