Sarrasin, V. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2026

Dual-stage inhibition of Plasmodium falciparum by a Skeletocutis derived fungal metabolite targeting Pyruvate Kinase II

Plasmodium falciparum resistance to current first line treatments is threatening at-risk populations and underscores the urgent need for novel therapeutic targets and drugs. P. falciparum pyruvate kinases I and II are two essential enzymes with distinct roles and subcellular localizations within the parasite. PfPyrKI is cytosolic, while PfPyrKII is found in the apicoplast, a specific organelle of Apicomplexa, where it is required for the production of (d)NTPs essential for apicoplast maintenance. We identify skeletocutin E, a Basidiomycete-derived metabolite, as a specific inhibitor of PfPyrKII. Skeletocutin E inhibits in vitro the activity of PfPyrKII with an IC50 of 0.52 {+/-} 0.08 {micro}M through a mixed inhibition mechanism and does not affect the activities of three human pyruvate kinases. Structure-activity relationship analyses using synthetic skeletocutin E analogues allowed us to identify the molecular determinants of this inhibition. Furthermore, determination of the quaternary structure of PfPyrKII by mass photometry, showed that this enzyme exists as monomers, dimers, and tetramers in equal proportions, revealing its singularity compared to other pyruvate kinases. Interestingly, skeletocutin E does not alter the distribution of the complexes, indicating that it does not interact at the subunit interfaces. Importantly, skeletocutin E inhibits P. falciparum growth in both blood and liver stages, with IC values of 3.56 {+/-} 0.50 {micro}M in red blood cells and 3.70 {+/-} 0.74 {micro}M in primary human hepatocytes. Together, these findings establish PfPyrKII as a druggable antimalarial target and identify skeletocutin E as a promising lead compound for the rational development of dual-stage antimalarial therapies.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2021

5WBF: A low-cost and straightforward whole blood filtration method suitable for whole-genome sequencing of Plasmodium falciparum clinical isolates

BackgroundWhole-genome sequencing (WGS) is becoming increasingly helpful to assist malaria control programs. A major drawback of this approach is the large amount of human DNA compared to parasite DNA extracted from unprocessed whole blood. As red blood cells (RBCs) have a diameter of about 7-8 m and exhibit some deformability, we hypothesized that cheap and commercially available 5 m filters might retain leukocytes but much less of Plasmodium falciparum-infected RBCs. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that such a filtration method, named 5WBF (for 5 m Whole Blood Filtration), may provide highly enriched parasite material suitable for P. falciparum WGS. MethodsWhole blood was collected from five patients experiencing a P. falciparum malaria episode (ring-stage parasitemia range: 0.04-5.5%) and from mock samples obtained by mixing synchronized, ring-stage cultured P. falciparum 3D7 parasites with uninfected human whole blood (final parasitemia range: 0.02-1.1%). These whole blood samples (50 to 400 L) were diluted in RPMI 1640 medium or PBS 1X buffer and filtered with syringes connected to a 5 m commercial filter. DNA was extracted from filtered and unfiltered counterpart blood samples using a commercial kit. The 5WBF method was evaluated on the ratios of parasite:human DNA assessed by qPCR and by sequencing depth and percentages of coverage from WGS data (Illumina NextSeq 500). As a comparison, we also applied to the same unprocessed whole blood samples the selective whole-genome amplification (sWGA) method which does not rely on blood filtration. ResultsAfter applying 5WBF, qPCR indicated an average of 2-fold loss in the amount of parasite template DNA (Pf ARN18S gene) and from 4,096- to 65,536-fold loss of human template DNA (human {beta} actin gene). WGS analyses revealed that > 95% of the nuclear genome and the entire whole organellar genomes were covered at [≥] 10x depth for all samples tested. In sWGA counterparts, none of the organellar genomes were covered, and from 47.7 to 82.1% of the nuclear genome was covered at [≥] 10x depth depending on parasitemia. Sequence reads were homogeneously distributed across gene sequences for 5WBF-treated samples (n = 5,460 genes; mean coverage: 91x; median coverage: 93x; 5th percentile: 70x; 95th percentile: 103x), allowing the identification of gene copy number variations such as for gch1. This later analysis was not possible for sWGA-treated samples, as we observed a much more heterogeneous distribution of reads among gene sequences (mean coverage: 80x; median coverage: 51x; 5th percentile: 7x; 95th percentile: 245x). ConclusionsThe novel 5WBF leucodepletion method is simple to implement and based on commercially available, standardized, 5 m filters which cost from 1.0 to 1.7{euro} per unit, depending on suppliers. 5WBF permits extensive genome-wide analysis of P. falciparum DNA from minute amounts of whole blood even with parasitemias as low as 0.02%.

genomics↗