Structural Insights into the IGiardia lamblia/I Target of Rapamycin Homolog: A Bioinformatics Approach

TOR proteins, also known as targets of rapamycin, are serine/threonine kinases involved in various signaling pathways that regulate cell growth. The protozoan parasite Giardia lamblia is the causative agent of giardiasis, a neglected infectious disease in humans. In this study, we used a bioinformat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inInternational journal of molecular sciences Vol. 24; no. 15
Main Authors Muñoz-Muñoz, Patricia L. A, Mares-Alejandre, Rosa E, Meléndez-López, Samuel G, Ramos-Ibarra, Marco A
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published MDPI AG 01.07.2023
Subjects
Computational biology
Medical research
Medicine, Experimental
Metronidazole
Proteins
Rapamycin
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Summary:TOR proteins, also known as targets of rapamycin, are serine/threonine kinases involved in various signaling pathways that regulate cell growth. The protozoan parasite Giardia lamblia is the causative agent of giardiasis, a neglected infectious disease in humans. In this study, we used a bioinformatics approach to examine the structural features of GTOR, a G. lamblia TOR-like protein, and predict functional associations. Our findings confirmed that it shares significant similarities with functional TOR kinases, including a binding domain for the FKBP-rapamycin complex and a kinase domain resembling that of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-related kinases. In addition, it can form multiprotein complexes such as TORC1 and TORC2. These results provide valuable insights into the structure–function relationship of GTOR, highlighting its potential as a molecular target for controlling G. lamblia cell proliferation. Furthermore, our study represents a step toward rational drug design for specific anti-giardiasis therapeutic agents.
ISSN:1422-0067
1422-0067
DOI:10.3390/ijms241511992