Investigação de Alcaloides de lauraceae da Amazônia como tratamento para tripanosomíase e leishmaniose: avaliação fenotípica e busca de alvos moleculares

Abstract

Lauraceae family species are rich in bioactive compounds, including alkaloids, with high pharmaceutical potential, such as activities against Leishmania amazonensis and Trypanosoma cruzi. These protozoa are, respectively, etiological agents of cutaneous Leishmaniasis and Chagas’ disease, which affect millions of people in underdeveloped and developing countries. Current therapeutic options available for treatment of these infections have severe side effects and low efficacy, for this reason, the development of effective and less toxic chemotherapeutic agents is extremely important. In order to find bioactive plant compounds with potential against these parasites, we performed an in vitro screening with ethanolic extracts of 12 species of Lauraceae against T. cruzi and L. amazonensis. Furthermore, a new molecular approach had been proposed to identify molecular drug targets in L. mexicana. The most active extracts were submitted to acid-base partition and the fractions have been evaluated. The bioguided assay led to isolation of 6 alkaloids. A new indole alkaloid isolated from A. panurensis, 3-methoxy-2-oxa-4,10b-diaza-1,3,6a,10c-tetrahydrofluoranthene-3,5-diol, had moderate activity against the three forms of T. cruzi and Leishmania amazonensis promastigotes. It was also shown that this alkaloid induces morphological and biochemical modifications in L. amazonensis promastigotes, impairing cytokinesis and generating cells with multiple nuclei and flagella. The compounds tested in this thesis show potential for modifications to its structure to improve activity and could potentially be tested in other parasites. The second chapter of the thesis aims to validate an inducible overexpression approach for L. mexicana, which could be used to generate an overexpression library. The results demonstrated for the first time the expression of an endogenous L. mexicana kinase (CRK3). Furthermore, a new system to inducible overexpression had been produced. This new molecular tool is suitable for all life cycle stages and could be used as a tool for drug discovery and to understand the complex biology of the parasite. The phytochemical and molecular approaches used here resulted in original data wich will help the discovery for new molecules against the trypanosomatids.