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Evaluation of anti-coccidial effects of 1-[4-(4-nitrophenoxy)phenyl]propane-1-one and identification of its potential target proteins in Toxoplasma gondii

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Abstract

Coccidiosis affects many vertebrates worldwide, but treatment with known anti-coccidial drugs causes several adverse side effects. There is a critical need for the development and evaluation of new drugs. The anti-coccidial effect of 1-[4-(4-nitrophenoxy)phenyl]propane-1-one (NPPP), a synthetic compound, was studied in vitro and in vivo. Treatment with NPPP showed anti-Toxoplasma activity in vitro with a lower EC50 value than pyrimethamine. In ICR mice infected with Toxoplasma gondii, oral administration of NPPP for 4 days showed statistically significant anti-Toxoplasma activity with lower numbers of tachyzoite than those of the negative control (p < 0.01). NPPP also exhibited strong anti-Eimeria activity in Eimeria tenella-infected chickens when treated for 4 days with orally administered NPPP at a dose of 100 mg/kg. Potential target proteins of NPPP were analyzed by proteomic profiles of T. gondii tachyzoites. Two hypothetical proteins were identified as possible targets of NPPP, a putative ortholog of vacuolar ATP synthase subunit C and a class I S-adenosylmethionine-dependent methyltransferase. Our data show that the NPPP might be an anti-coccidial drug candidate for clinical application against coccidial infections. Future investigations will focus on identifying the function of proteins regulated by NPPP.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Grant funded by the Korea government (MEST) (No. 2010-0015187) and by the Public Welfare & Safety Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (2010-0020803).

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Author notes

  1. Hwa-Jung Choi

    Present address: Department of Beauty Science, Gwangju Women’s University, 201 Yeodae-gil, Gwangsan-gu, Kwangju, 506-713, Republic of Korea

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Infection Biology, Zoonosis Research Center, Wonkwang University School of Medicine, 460 Iksandae-ro, Iksan, 570-749, Jeonbuk, Republic of Korea

    Hwa-Jung Choi, Seon-Ju Yeo, Kusuma Kaewintajuk, Hyun-Ok Song & Hyun Park

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Wonkwang University School of Medicine, 460 Iksandae-ro, Iksan, 570-749, Jeonbuk, Republic of Korea

    Jae-Hoon Lee

  3. Division of Drug Discovery Research, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, 141 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-600, Republic of Korea

    Kyu-Yang Yi

  4. College of Veterinary Medicine, Gyeongsang National University, 501 Jinjudae-ro, Jinju, 660-701, Gyeongnam, Republic of Korea

    Suk Kim

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Correspondence to Hyun-Ok Song or Hyun Park.

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Hwa-Jung Choi, Jae-Hoon Lee and Seon-Ju Yeo have contributed equally to this study.

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Choi, HJ., Lee, JH., Yeo, SJ. et al. Evaluation of anti-coccidial effects of 1-[4-(4-nitrophenoxy)phenyl]propane-1-one and identification of its potential target proteins in Toxoplasma gondii . Arch. Pharm. Res. 38, 752–760 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12272-014-0400-y

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