Biochemical research elucidating metabolic pathways in Pneumocystis

Parasite

E.S. Kaneshiro¹ 

[1] Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati,Cincinnati,Ohio,USA

关键词: ubiquinones (Coenzyme Q, CoQ);    triazoles;    stigmatellin;    sterol C-24-methyltransferase;    sterol 14α-demethylase;    shikimate;    pneumocysterol;    p-hydroxybenzoate;    nicotine;    mitochondria;    microsomes;    lung;    lanosterol synthase;    genes;    sam1;    erg11;    erg7;    erg6;    chorismate;    buparvaquone;    atovaquone;    S-adenosyl-L-methionine;   

Others  :  808295
DOI  :  doi:10.1051/parasite/2010174285

 received in 2010-02-12, accepted in 2010-07-13,  发布年份 2010

【 摘 要 】

Advances in sequencing the Pneumocystis carinii genome have helped identify potential metabolic pathways operative in the organism. Also, data from characterizing the biochemical and physiological nature of these organisms now allow elucidation of metabolic pathways as well as pose new challenges and questions that require additional experiments. These experiments are being performed despite the difficulty in doing experiments directly on this pathogen that has yet to be subcultured indefinitely and produce mass numbers of cells in vitro. This article reviews biochemical approaches that have provided insights into several Pneumocystis metabolic pathways. It focuses on 1) S-adenosyl-L-methionine (AdoMet; SAM), which is a ubiquitous participant in numerous cellular reactions; 2) sterols: focusing on oxidosqualene cyclase that forms lanosterol in P. carinii; SAM:sterol C-24 methyltransferase that adds methyl groups at the C-24 position of the sterol side chain; and sterol 14α-demethylase that removes a methyl group at the C-14 position of the sterol nucleus; and 3) synthesis of ubiquinone homologs, which play a pivotal role in mitochondrial inner membrane and other cellular membrane electron transport.

【 授权许可】

   
© PRINCEPS Editions, Paris, 2010