Dehydrogenases and Enzymes of the Mitochondrial Electron Transport Chain as Anti-Apicomplexan Drug Targets

Abstract

Dehydrogenases and mitochondrial redox-associated processes are essentially involved in central energy metabolism of the apicomplexan parasites, including Plasmodium, Toxoplasma, Babesia, Eimeria, Cryptosporidium, Haemoproteus, and Neospora species. Despite the great potential of these enzymes and pathways to serve as target sites for novel antiparasitic control strategies, only a few of them have yet been characterized in detail. In this chapter, a review is provided of the current knowledge of mitochondrial enzymes of the electron transport chain and some dehydrogenases of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle of apicomplexan parasites, with respect to their function, structure, localization, and potential as drug targets. © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.