The evolution of metabolic profiling in parasitology

Abstract

The uses of metabolic profiling technologies such as mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in parasitology have been multi-faceted. Traditional uses of spectroscopic platforms focused on determining the chemical composition of drugs or natural products used for treatment of parasitic infection. A natural progression of the use of these tools led to the generation of chemical profiles of the parasite in in vitro systems, monitoring the response of the parasite to chemotherapeutics, profiling metabolic consequences in the host organism and to deriving host-parasite interactions. With the dawn of the post-genomic era the paradigm in many research areas shifted towards Systems Biology and the integration of biomolecular interactions at the level of the gene, protein and metabolite. Although these technologies have yet to deliver their full potential, metabolic profiling has a key role to play in defining diagnostic or even prognostic metabolic signatures of parasitic infection and in deciphering the molecular mechanisms underpinning the development of parasite-induced pathologies. The strengths and weaknesses of the various spectroscopic technologies and analytical strategies are summarized here with respect to achieving these goals.

Metabolomics and protozoan parasites

“…The application of post-genomic technologies (transcriptomics, proteomics, lipidomics and metabolomics) in parasitology has opened many avenues for deepening our understanding of parasite biology and of host-parasite interactions. By judicious integration of 'omic' technologies with mathematical modeling and bioinformatics tools, we should be able to translate new mechanistic knowledge into practical solutions to control and treatment of parasitic infections and to combat developing drug resistance (Holmes 2010;Lakshmanan et al 2011).…”

How can natural products serve as a viable source of lead compounds for the development of new/novel anti-malarials?

“…Metabolic profiling offers an exciting approach to the identification of (oftentimes new) molecular targets of biologically active molecules, and involves the use of tools such as NMR [39,40] and Mass spectroscopy [41,42] in the assessment of the metabolic response of an organism/cell/parasite following exposure to a bioactive molecule [43]. Bioactive natural products, by virtue of their chemical diversity, are particularly suited to act as probes for the identification of new molecular targets in this way [43,44].…”

Neglected diseases prioritized in Brazil under the perspective of metabolomics: A review

“…There are few citations in the literature that report metabolomic studies on T. cruzi although the field has been reviewed frequently . Among targeted metabolomic approaches, NMR with differing nuclei , especially those with 13 C and 31 P marked metabolites, were used to study specific metabolic routes, such as glucose and polyphosphate metabolism, respectively.…”

“…Metabolomics studies on leishmaniasis have been reviewed regularly . Several research groups have used metabolomics as analytical tool to improve the understanding of the parasite metabolism during growth , to map specific metabolic routes , to contrast differing parasites stages (amastigotes vs. promastigotes) , and to study the metabolism of macrophages .…”