Cargando…

Animal venoms: a novel source of anti-Toxoplasma gondii drug candidates

Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a nucleated intracellular parasitic protozoan with a broad host selectivity. It causes toxoplasmosis in immunocompromised or immunodeficient patients. The currently available treatments for toxoplasmosis have significant side effects as well as certain limitations, a...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Yang, Dongqian, Liu, Xiaohua, Li, Jing, Xie, Jing, Jiang, Liping
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10188992/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37205912
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2023.1178070
_version_ 1785042986010148864
author Yang, Dongqian
Liu, Xiaohua
Li, Jing
Xie, Jing
Jiang, Liping
author_facet Yang, Dongqian
Liu, Xiaohua
Li, Jing
Xie, Jing
Jiang, Liping
author_sort Yang, Dongqian
collection PubMed
description Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a nucleated intracellular parasitic protozoan with a broad host selectivity. It causes toxoplasmosis in immunocompromised or immunodeficient patients. The currently available treatments for toxoplasmosis have significant side effects as well as certain limitations, and the development of vaccines remains to be explored. Animal venoms are considered to be an important source of novel antimicrobial agents. Some peptides from animal venoms have amphipathic alpha-helix structures. They inhibit the growth of pathogens by targeting membranes to produce lethal pores and cause membrane rupture. Venom molecules generally possess immunomodulatory properties and play key roles in the suppression of pathogenic organisms. Here, we summarized literatures of the last 15 years on the interaction of animal venom peptides with T. gondii and attempt to explore the mechanisms of their interaction with parasites that involve membrane and organelle damage, immune response regulation and ion homeostasis. Finally, we analyzed some limitations of venom peptides for drug therapy and some insights into their development in future studies. It is hoped that more research will be stimulated to turn attention to the medical value of animal venoms in toxoplasmosis.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-10188992
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2023
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-101889922023-05-18 Animal venoms: a novel source of anti-Toxoplasma gondii drug candidates Yang, Dongqian Liu, Xiaohua Li, Jing Xie, Jing Jiang, Liping Front Pharmacol Pharmacology Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a nucleated intracellular parasitic protozoan with a broad host selectivity. It causes toxoplasmosis in immunocompromised or immunodeficient patients. The currently available treatments for toxoplasmosis have significant side effects as well as certain limitations, and the development of vaccines remains to be explored. Animal venoms are considered to be an important source of novel antimicrobial agents. Some peptides from animal venoms have amphipathic alpha-helix structures. They inhibit the growth of pathogens by targeting membranes to produce lethal pores and cause membrane rupture. Venom molecules generally possess immunomodulatory properties and play key roles in the suppression of pathogenic organisms. Here, we summarized literatures of the last 15 years on the interaction of animal venom peptides with T. gondii and attempt to explore the mechanisms of their interaction with parasites that involve membrane and organelle damage, immune response regulation and ion homeostasis. Finally, we analyzed some limitations of venom peptides for drug therapy and some insights into their development in future studies. It is hoped that more research will be stimulated to turn attention to the medical value of animal venoms in toxoplasmosis. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-05-03 /pmc/articles/PMC10188992/ /pubmed/37205912 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2023.1178070 Text en Copyright © 2023 Yang, Liu, Li, Xie and Jiang. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Pharmacology
Yang, Dongqian
Liu, Xiaohua
Li, Jing
Xie, Jing
Jiang, Liping
Animal venoms: a novel source of anti-Toxoplasma gondii drug candidates
title Animal venoms: a novel source of anti-Toxoplasma gondii drug candidates
title_full Animal venoms: a novel source of anti-Toxoplasma gondii drug candidates
title_fullStr Animal venoms: a novel source of anti-Toxoplasma gondii drug candidates
title_full_unstemmed Animal venoms: a novel source of anti-Toxoplasma gondii drug candidates
title_short Animal venoms: a novel source of anti-Toxoplasma gondii drug candidates
title_sort animal venoms: a novel source of anti-toxoplasma gondii drug candidates
topic Pharmacology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10188992/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37205912
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2023.1178070
work_keys_str_mv AT yangdongqian animalvenomsanovelsourceofantitoxoplasmagondiidrugcandidates
AT liuxiaohua animalvenomsanovelsourceofantitoxoplasmagondiidrugcandidates
AT lijing animalvenomsanovelsourceofantitoxoplasmagondiidrugcandidates
AT xiejing animalvenomsanovelsourceofantitoxoplasmagondiidrugcandidates
AT jiangliping animalvenomsanovelsourceofantitoxoplasmagondiidrugcandidates