Trypanosomatid (order Kinetoplastida)-borne neglected tropical diseases – African and American trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis - are amongst the most devastating health threats of underdeveloped, developing and poor countries. Climatic changes due to global warming, tourism exchange and increasing migratory fluxes are re-distributing the endemic subtropical location of these diseases to a new scenario with a rising presence in developed countries during the last decades. In addition, the proved opportunistic transmission of these diseases through contaminated syringes shared by drug users, in combination with immunosuppression processes linked to HIV infections and the poor response to the typical treatments, point to AIDS patients as a sensitive sub-population prone to suffer from these diseases. DNA topoisomerases are the “molecular engineers” that unravel the DNA during replication and transcription. The mechanism of DNA unwinding includes the scission of a single DNA strand - type I topoisomerases - or both DNA strands - type II topoisomerases - establishing transient covalent bonds with the scissile end. Camptothecin and etoposide – two natural drugs whose semi-synthetic derivatives are currently used in cancer chemotherapy – target types I and II DNA-topoisomerases respectively, stabilizing ternary topoisomerase-DNA-drug covalent complexes, which irreversibly poison the enzymes. Several differences between parasite and host DNA topoisomerases have pointed to these enzymes as potential drug targets in Trypanosomatids. The unusual localization inside the mitochondria-like organellum – the kinetoplast - linked to mini and maxicircles, as well as the uncommon heterodimeric structure of the DNA topoisomerase IB subfamily, make these proteins unquestionable targets for drug intervention against trypanosomatids.
Keywords: DNA-topoisomerases, chemotherapy, camptothecin, parasitic protozoa, trypanosomatids, tropical diseases