Fungal infections are of major relevance due to the increased number of immunocompromised patients, frequently delayed diagnosis, and limited therapeutics. Novel antifungal drug discovery has attracted the great interest of scientists. Recently, homoserine dehydrogenase has been considered as a target for antifungal agent discovery. As always focused on the research highlights for drug discovery, Creative Biolabs now provides target identification and validation services, especially for homoserine dehydrogenase as a potential target.
Homoserine Dehydrogenase
The homoserine dehydrogenase (also known as HSDH or HSD), which belongs to the family of oxidoreductases, is an enzyme that especially acts on the CH-OH group of donors with NAD+ or NADP+ as acceptor. Homoserine dehydrogenase catalyzes the reaction of aspartate-semialdehyde (ASA) to homoserine, which is known as the third step in the aspartate pathway, to be exact, the NAD(P)-dependent reduction of aspartate beta-semialdehyde into homoserine. HSD is subject to significant regulation by downstream products of the aspartate metabolic pathway, primarily threonine. Threonine functions as a competitive inhibitor for HSD.
Fig.1 Aspartate pathway in S. cerevisiae. (Jacques, 2001)
Homoserine Dehydrogenase as a Target for Antifungal Drug Discovery
Fungal homoserine dehydrogenase is essential for the biosynthesis of threonine (Thr), methionine (Met) and lysine (Lys) from aspartic acid in the metabolic pathway. Data shows that the Met biosynthetic pathway is an identified target that should be considered in the development of antifungal agents. Previous studies have also shown that HSD enzyme may be utilized as a target for the development of antifungal drugs with specific action against paracoccidioidomycosis.
Given that HSD is not found in humans, it adds to the evidence that HSD could be considered as an important target for the development of the new therapeutic strategy for fungal diseases using drugs that exhibit a high degree of specific antifungal activity and fewer side effects.
Why Choose Us?
To meet the challenging requirements, Creative Biolabs has built a team of experienced scientists with facilities and processes designed specifically to provide the best strategy and protocols customized to suit any antifungal drug discovery projects. We can provide various identification services for Fungal Nucleic Acid and Protein Biosynthesis Targets, including:
In addition to the identification of potential targets for antifungal drug discovery, you might be also interested in other services for Potential Targets for Antifungal Drug Discovery listed below:
If you have any special needs in discovering potential targets for antifungal drugs or be interested in learning more about our antifungal drug discovery services, please feel free to contact us for more details.
Reference
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