Cornell University
Library
Cornell UniversityLibrary

eCommons

Help
Log In(current)
  1. Home
  2. Undergraduate Honors Theses
  3. College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Honors Theses
  4. Crystallographic Studies on Mutants of Trichomonas vaginalis Purine Nucleoside Phosphorylase

Crystallographic Studies on Mutants of Trichomonas vaginalis Purine Nucleoside Phosphorylase

File(s)
Xing, Siyao - Research Honors Thesis.pdf (5.77 MB)
Permanent Link(s)
https://hdl.handle.net/1813/13213
Collections
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Honors Theses
Author
Xing, Siyao
Abstract

Trichomonas vaginalis is a protozoan human parasite that causes trichomoniasis, one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the world. The toxicity of current therapies as well as drug resistance exhibited by certain T. vaginalis strains underscores the need for new treatment options. One possibility involves the purine salvage pathway, which is well known for its importance in organisms. Key enzymes in the protozoan pathway, one of which is purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP), exhibit important differences from the human homologs, indicating that inhibitors could be identified that affect TvPNP but not the human pathway, as a new class of chemotherapeutic agents against the T. vaginalis parasite. The native structure of TvPNP was determined in previous research in order to determine the basis for substrate binding and selectivity. However, the hypothesized interaction between the ligands and the key residue, Asp-204, at the active site of TvPNP was not observed. Thus, our goal is to further understand the active site of TvPNP, particularly with respect to Asp-204 in terms of substrate specificity. To do this, the crystallization of the D204N TvPNP mutants with adenosine and inosine were undertaken, and the interactions between the ligands and the enzyme were analyzed in light of kinetic data.

Date Issued
2009-07-22T19:19:05Z
Type
dissertation or thesis

Site Statistics | Help

About eCommons | Policies | Terms of use | Contact Us

copyright © 2002-2026 Cornell University Library | Privacy | Web Accessibility Assistance