Purification of native M. vogae and H. contortus tubulin by TOG affinity chromatography.

Microtubules are non-covalent cylindrical polymers formed by alpha- and beta-tubulin heterodimer units, crucial for cell division, intracellular transport, motility and differentiation. This makes them very attractive pharmacological targets exploited to develop different drugs such as anthelmintics, antifungals, and antineoplastics. In this work, in order to establish an in vitro target-based screen to integrate to the search for new anthelmintics, we explored the extraction of native assembly-competent tubulin from two helminth parasites: Mesocestoides vogae tetrathyridia (syn. corti, Cestoda: Cyclophyllidea), a useful cestode biological model, and Haemonchus contortus, a sheep gastrointestinal nematode of interest in livestock production. For this purpose, a novel tubulin affinity chromatography procedure was employed, based on the binding capacity of TOG (Tumor Overexpressed Gene) domain from MAPs (microtubule-associated proteins). The TOG domain of the protein Stu2 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae fused to GST (glutathione S- transferase) were produced in E. coli, and the immobilized recombinant proteins allowed for native tubulin extraction from parasites. The binding capacity of TOG1 affinity column (3.6%) was estimated using commercial porcine brain tubulin. A total amount of up to 126 µg of M. vogae tubulin was purified, whereas H. contortus tubulin co-eluted with glutamate dehydrogenase enzyme. The identity of tubulins was confirmed by western blotting and mass spectrometry. The abundance of tubulin estimated in M. vogae was 10% soluble extract, which probably could explain differences observed between tubulin purification results of both helminth parasites.

Development of novel valerolactam-benzimidazole hybrids anthelmintic derivatives: Diffusion and biotransformation studies in helminth parasites.

In the search for new anthelmintics able to overcome the resistance problem against all available drugs in livestock, the synthesis of novel valerolactam-benzimidazole hybrid compounds was reported. This allowed us to obtain these in vitro and in vivo bioactive compounds using Nippostrongylus brasiliensis rat model by integrating physiology-based assays and ex vivo diffusion studies. In order to further study those novel hybrid molecules, Haemonchus contortus (a sheep gastrointestinal nematode of interest) and Mesocestoides vogae tetrathyridia (a useful system to study the efficacy of anthelmintic drugs against cestoda) were used as parasite models to compare the ex vivo patterns of diffusion and biotransformation of benzimidazoles and their valerolactam-benzimidazole hybrid derivatives. On average, a nine-fold higher intraparasitic concentration of compounds was found in M. vogae compared with H.contortus, with similarities regarding the order of entry of compounds, highlighting febendazole (FEB) and its hybrid compound 10, while valerolactam compound 2 practically did not penetrate the parasites. Interestingly, sulphoxidation drug metabolism was observed and measured, revealing percentages of oxidation of 8.2% and 14.5% for albendazole (ABZ) and febendazole respectively in M. vogae, while this effect was more relevant in H. contortus parasite. More importantly, significant differences were observed between anthelmintic-susceptible adult parasites (Hc S) and those from sheep farms (Hc U). In fact, the percentages of oxidation of FEB and the hybrid compound 8 were higher in Hc U (25.5%, 54.1%, respectively) than in Hc S (8.8%, 38.2%). Interestingly, sulphoxidation of hybrid compound 10 was neither observed in M. vogae nor in H. contortus parasites, suggesting that increased drug metabolism (oxidation reactions) could not be used by these parasites as a defense mechanism against this novel drug.