The parasite-specific trypanothione redox metabolism

Research Highlights Dissecting the mechanism of trypanothione synthetase under in vivo-like conditions All proteins of the trypanothione metabolism are indispensable for the viability of African trypanosomes. A final conclusion as to which protein plays a main role in the pathway control yet would need a reliable model based on the kinetic parameters of all enzymes obtained under conditions that reflect the milieu in which the pathway is operating. The kinetic analysis under such in vivo-like conditions together with computational modelling revealed that trypanothione synthetase follows a terreactant mechanism, releases the intermediate glutathionylspermidine between the two catalytic steps and undergoes both substrate and product inhibition suggesting a tight in vivo regulation (Leroux et al. 2013). The parasite-specific trypanothione redox metabolism Luise Krauth-Siegel