RESEARCH ARTICLE


Ecto-Nucleoside Triphosphate Diphosphohydrolase Activities in Trypanosomatids: Possible Roles in Infection, Virulence and Purine Recycling



José Roberto Meyer-Fernandes*, 1, Daniela Cosentino-Gomes1, Danielle Pereira Vieira2, Angela Hampshire Lopes2
1 Instituto de Bioquímica Médica, UFRJ, Cidade Universitária, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, R.J. 21941-590, Brazil
2 Instituto de Microbiologia Prof. Paulo de GÓes, UFRJ, Cidade Universitária, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, R.J. 21941-590, Brazil


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Creative Commons License
© 2010 Roberto Meyer-Fernandes;

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Instituto de Bioquímica Mé- dica, UFRJ, Cidade Universitária, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, R.J. 21941-590, Brazil; Tel: + 55-21-2562-6781; Fax: +55-21-2270-5988: E-mail: meyer@bioqmed.ufrj.b


Abstract

Ecto-nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolases (ecto-NTPDases), also known as ecto-ATPases and/or ectoapyrases, are integral membrane glycoproteins or soluble enzymes that are dependent on divalent cations. These ectoenzymes are important ecto-nucleotidases that are characterized by the ability to hydrolyze nucleoside triphosphates and nucleoside diphosphates to the monophosphate form. The hydrolysis of nucleoside monophosphates to nucleosides such as adenosine may then be catalyzed by the action of ecto-5´nucleotidases. The present study reviews the sequential hydrolysis of ATP → ADP → AMP → adenosine catalyzed by these ecto-enzymes from different trypanosomatids. These reactions participate in the salvage of purines in these parasites and simultaneously interfere with the establishment of infection and changes in the host immune response.

Keywords: Ecto-nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolases, trypanosomatids, virulence, adenosine acquisition.