In silico repositioning-chemogenomics strategy identifies new drugs with potential activity against multiple life stages of Schistosoma mansoni

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2015 Jan 8;9(1):e3435. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003435. eCollection 2015 Jan.

Abstract

Morbidity and mortality caused by schistosomiasis are serious public health problems in developing countries. Because praziquantel is the only drug in therapeutic use, the risk of drug resistance is a concern. In the search for new schistosomicidal drugs, we performed a target-based chemogenomics screen of a dataset of 2,114 proteins to identify drugs that are approved for clinical use in humans that may be active against multiple life stages of Schistosoma mansoni. Each of these proteins was treated as a potential drug target, and its amino acid sequence was used to interrogate three databases: Therapeutic Target Database (TTD), DrugBank and STITCH. Predicted drug-target interactions were refined using a combination of approaches, including pairwise alignment, conservation state of functional regions and chemical space analysis. To validate our strategy, several drugs previously shown to be active against Schistosoma species were correctly predicted, such as clonazepam, auranofin, nifedipine, and artesunate. We were also able to identify 115 drugs that have not yet been experimentally tested against schistosomes and that require further assessment. Some examples are aprindine, gentamicin, clotrimazole, tetrabenazine, griseofulvin, and cinnarizine. In conclusion, we have developed a systematic and focused computer-aided approach to propose approved drugs that may warrant testing and/or serve as lead compounds for the design of new drugs against schistosomes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Computer Simulation*
  • Drug Discovery*
  • Genome, Helminth*
  • Genomics*
  • Helminth Proteins / metabolism
  • Life Cycle Stages / drug effects
  • Schistosoma mansoni / drug effects*
  • Schistosomiasis mansoni / parasitology
  • Schistosomicides / pharmacology*

Substances

  • Helminth Proteins
  • Schistosomicides

Grants and funding

BJN was supported by a fellowship from the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES). This work has been funded by the National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq) and the State of Goias Research Foundation (FAPEG). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.