The anti-arthritic
gold-containing drug
Auranofin is lethal to the protozoan intestinal parasite Entamoeba histolytica, the causative agent of human
amebiasis, in both culture and animal models of the disease. A putative mechanism of
Auranofin action proposes that monovalent
gold, Au(I), released from the drug, can bind to the redox-active
dithiol group of
thioredoxin reductase (TrxR). Au(I) binding in the active site is expected to prevent electron transfer to the downstream substrate
thioredoxin (Trx), thus interfering with redox homeostasis in the parasite. To clarify the molecular mechanism of
Auranofin action in more detail, we determined a series of atomic resolution X-ray structures for E. histolytica
thioredoxin (EhTrx) and
thioredoxin reductase (EhTrxR), the latter with and without
Auranofin. Only the
disulfide-bonded form of the active site
dithiol (Cys(140)-Cys(143)) was invariably observed in crystals of EhTrxR in spite of the addition of
reductants in various crystallization trials, and no
gold was found associated with these cysteines. Non-catalytic Cys(286) was identified as the only site of modification, but further mutagenesis studies using the C286Q mutant demonstrated that this site was not responsible for inhibition of EhTrxR by
Auranofin. Interestingly, we obtained both of the catalytically-relevant conformations of this bacterial-like, low molecular weight TrxR in crystals without requiring an engineered
disulfide linkage between Cys mutants of TrxR and Trx (as was originally done with Escherichia coli TrxR and Trx). We note that the -CXXC- catalytic motif, even if reduced, would likely not provide space sufficient to bind Au(I) by both cysteines of the
dithiol group.