Ubiquitin Proteasome pathway proteins as potential drug targets in parasite Trypanosoma cruzi

Trypanosomiasis infects more than 21 million people and claims approximately 2 million lives annually. Due to the development of resistance against currently available anti-trypanosomal drugs, there is a growing need for specific inhibitors and novel drug targets. Of late, the proteins from the Ubiquitin Proteasome Pathway (UPP): ubiquitin ligases and deubiquitinase have received attention as potential drug targets in other parasites from the apicomplexan family. The completion of Trypanosoma cruzi (Tc) genome sequencing in 2005 and subsequent availability of database resources like TriTrypDB has provided a platform for the systematic study of the proteome of this parasite. Here, we present the first comprehensive survey of the UPP enzymes, their homologs and other associated proteins in trypanosomes and the UPPs from T. cruzi were explored in detail. After extensive computational analyses using various bioinformatics tools, we have identified 269 putative UPP proteins in the T. cruzi proteome along with their homologs in other Trypanosoma species. Characterization of T. cruzi proteome was done based on their predicted subcellular localization, domain architecture and overall expression profiles. Specifically, unique domain architectures of the enzymes and the UPP players expressed exclusively in the amastigote stage provide a rationale for designing inhibitors against parasite UPP proteins.