The potent cell permeable calpain inhibitor MDL28170 affects the interaction of Leishmania amazonensis with macrophages and shows anti-amastigote activity

Parasitol Int. 2017 Oct;66(5):579-583. doi: 10.1016/j.parint.2017.06.010. Epub 2017 Jun 27.

Abstract

Since the discovery of the28 first drugs used in leishmaniasis treatment up to now, the search for compounds with anti-Leishmania activity without toxic effects and able to overcome the emergency of resistant strains remains a major goal to combat this neglected disease. With this in mind, in the present work, we evaluated the effects of the calpain inhibitor MDL28170 on the interaction process of Leishmania amazonensis promastigote forms with murine peritoneal macrophages and on the intracellular amastigotes. Our results showed that the calpain inhibitor MDL28170 at 15 and 30μM significantly reduced the interaction process of promastigotes with macrophages by 16% and 41%, respectively. The inhibitor was also able to drastically reduce the number of infected macrophages in a time- and dose-dependent manner: after only 24h, MDL28170 was able to significantly diminish the infection rate, presenting an IC50 value of 18.2μM for amastigotes. The treatment with MDL28170 did not alter the nitric oxide production, but the production of TNF-α was significantly raised. Altogether, the results presented here contribute to the search of new proteolytic inhibitors able to act in a selective and effective manner against the diseases caused by trypanosomatids.

Keywords: Calpain inhibitor; Interaction process; Intracellular amastigotes; Leishmania amazonensis; Leishmaniasis.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antiprotozoal Agents / pharmacology*
  • Cell Survival / drug effects
  • Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors / pharmacology*
  • Dipeptides / pharmacology*
  • Host-Parasite Interactions / drug effects*
  • Inhibitory Concentration 50
  • Leishmania mexicana / drug effects*
  • Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / drug therapy
  • Macrophages, Peritoneal / drug effects
  • Macrophages, Peritoneal / parasitology*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Nitric Oxide / biosynthesis
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / metabolism

Substances

  • Antiprotozoal Agents
  • Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors
  • Dipeptides
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
  • Nitric Oxide
  • calpain inhibitor III