Artemisinins act through at least two targets in a yeast model

Catherine M. Moore, Elizabeth M. Hoey, Alan Trudgett, David J. Timson

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    Artemisinin and related compounds are potent and widely used antimalarial drugs but their biochemical mode of action is not clear. There is strong evidence that ATP-dependent calcium transporters are a key target in the malarial parasite. However, work using Saccharomyces cerevisiae suggests that disruption of mitochondrial function is critical in the cell killing activity of these compounds. Here it is shown that, in the absence of reducing agents, artemisinin and artesunate targeted the S. cerevisiae calcium channels Pmr1p and Pmc1p. Both compounds affected the growth of yeast on fermentable and nonfermentable media. This growth inhibition was not seen in a yeast strain in which the genes encoding both calcium channels were deleted. In the presence of reducing agents, which break the endoperoxide bridge in the drugs, growth inhibition was only observed in nonfermentable media. This inhibition could be partially relieved by the addition of a free radical scavenger. These results suggest that the drugs have two biochemical modes of action - one acting by specific binding to calcium channels and one involving free radical production in the mitochondria.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)233-237
    Number of pages5
    JournalFems Yeast Research
    Volume11
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2011

    Keywords

    • Antimalarial drug
    • Artemisinin
    • Artesunate
    • Saccharomyces cerevisiae

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