DNA topoisomerases in life and death: Implications in kinetoplastid protozoa

Published in: Journal, General Review, Article, Review Volume :4, Issue : 6, Pages : 711-722

DOI : 10.2174/1566524043360302

Author : Chowdhury, Arnab Roy; Majumder, Hemanta K.

Abstract : A review. Current biomedical research has its focus on the search for newer intervention strategies to control public health impact of parasitic diseases. The dramatic advances of mol. and cellular biol. in recent times have provided opportunities for discovering and evaluating mol. targets for drug designing, which now form a rational basis for the development of improved anti parasitic therapy. DNA topoisomerases, the “”cellular magicians”” involved in nearly all biol. processes governing DNA, have emerged as one such biol. target. Over the last 2 decades, interest in topoisomerases has expanded beyond the realm of the basic science laboratory into the clin. arena. This review aims at providing a comprehensive insight into the biol. of DNA topoisomerases and also focuses on its evolution as a drug target in the unicellular kinetoplastids.