Malaria and cryptosporidiosis, caused by apicomplexan parasites, remain major drivers of global child mortality. New drugs for the treatment of malaria and cryptosporidiosis, in particular, are of high priority; however, there are few chemically validated targets. The natural product cladosporin is active against blood- and liver-stagePlasmodium falciparumandCryptosporidium parvumin cell-culture studies. Target deconvolution inP. falciparumhas shown that cladosporin inhibits lysyl-tRNA synthetase (PfKRS1). Here, we report the identification of a series of selective inhibitors of apicomplexan KRSs. Following a biochemical screen, a small-molecule hit was identified and then optimized by using a structure-based approach, supported by structures of bothPfKRS1 andC. parvumKRS (CpKRS). In vivo proof of concept was established in an SCID mouse model of malaria, after oral administration (ED90= 1.5 mg/kg, once a day for 4 d). Furthermore, we successfully identified an opportunity for pathogen hopping based on the structural homology betweenPfKRS1 andCpKRS. This series of compounds inhibitCpKRS andC. parvumandCryptosporidium hominisin culture, and our lead compound shows oral efficacy in two cryptosporidiosis mouse models. X-ray crystallography and molecular dynamics simulations have provided a model to rationalize the selectivity of our compounds forPfKRS1 andCpKRS vs. (human)HsKRS. Our work validates apicomplexan KRSs as promising targets for the development of drugs for malaria and cryptosporidiosis.

MtATP-phosphoribosyltransferase catalyzes the first and committed step in l-histidine biosynthesis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and is therefore subjected to allosteric feedback regulation. Because of its essentiality, this enzyme is being studied as a potential target for novel anti-infectives. To understand the basis for its regulation, we characterized the allosteric inhibition using gel filtration, steady-state and pre-steady-state kinetics, and the pH dependence of inhibition and binding. Gel filtration experiments indicate that MtATP-phosphoribosyltransferase is a hexamer in solution, in the presence or absence of l-histidine. Steady-state kinetic studies demonstrate that l-histidine inhibition is uncompetitive versus ATP and noncompetitive versus PRPP. At pH values close to neutrality, a Kii value of 4 μM was obtained for l-histidine. Pre-steady-state kinetic experiments indicate that chemistry is not rate-limiting for the overall reaction and that l-histidine inhibition is caused by trapping the enzyme in an inactive conformation. The pH dependence of binding, obtained by nuclear magnetic resonance, indicates that l-histidine binds better as the neutral α-amino group. The pH dependence of inhibition (Kii), on the contrary, indicates that l-histidine better inhibits MtATP-phosphoribosytransferase with a neutral imidazole and an ionized α-amino group. These results are combined into a model that accounts for the allosteric inhibition of MtATP-phosphoribosyltransferase.

Highlights d Mutations in PfAcAS confer resistance to antiplasmodials MMV019721 and MMV084978 d MMV019721 and MMV084978 specifically inhibit PfAcAS by competing with substrates d cKD and IFA show PfAcAS is an essential nuclear enzyme in blood-stage parasites d PfAcAS inhibitors deplete parasite acetyl-CoA and result in histone hypoacetylation