Veterinary trypanocidal benzoxaboroles are peptidase-activated prodrugs

Abstract

Livestock diseases caused byTrypanosoma congolense,T.vivaxandT.brucei, collectively known as nagana, are responsible for billions of dollars in lost food production annually. There is an urgent need for novel therapeutics. Encouragingly, promising antitrypanosomal benzoxaboroles are under veterinary development. Here, we show that the most efficacious subclass of these compounds are prodrugs activated by trypanosome serine carboxypeptidases (CBPs). Drug-resistance to a development candidate, AN11736, emerged readily inT.brucei, due to partial deletion within the locus containing three tandem copies of theCBPgenes.T.congolenseparasites, which possess a larger array of relatedCBPs, also developed resistance to AN11736 through deletion within the locus. A genome-scale screen inT.bruceiconfirmed CBP loss-of-function as the primary mechanism of resistance and CRISPR-Cas9 editing proved that partial deletion within the locus was sufficient to confer resistance. CBP re-expression in eitherT.bruceiorT.congolenseAN11736-resistant lines restored drug-susceptibility. CBPs act by cleaving the benzoxaborole AN11736 to a carboxylic acid derivative, revealing a prodrug activation mechanism. Loss of CBP activity results in massive reduction in net uptake of AN11736, indicating that entry is facilitated by the concentration gradient created by prodrug metabolism.