Drugging the Undruggable Trypanosoma brucei Monothiol Glutaredoxin 1

Trypanosoma brucei is a species of kinetoplastid causing sleeping sickness in humans and nagana in cows and horses. One of the peculiarities of this species of parasites is represented by their redox metabolism. One of the proteins involved in this redox machinery is the monothiol glutaredoxin 1 (1CGrx1) which is characterized by a unique disordered N-terminal extension exclusively conserved in trypanosomatids and other organisms. This region modulates the binding profile of the glutathione/trypanothione binding site, one of the functional regions of 1CGrx1. No endogenous ligands are known to bind this protein which does not present well-shaped binding sites, making it target particularly challenging to target. With the aim of targeting this peculiar system, we carried out two different screenings: (i) a fragment-based lead discovery campaign directed to the N-terminal as well as to the canonical binding site of 1CGrx1; (ii) a structure-based virtual screening directed to the 1CGrx1 canonical binding site. Here we report a small molecule that binds at the glutathione binding site in which the binding mode of the molecule was deeply investigated by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). This compound represents an important step in the attempt to develop a novel strategy to interfere with the peculiar Trypanosoma Brucei redox system, making it possible to shed light on the perturbation of this biochemical machinery and eventually to novel therapeutic possibilities.