Sandbox Reserved 333: Difference between revisions

Mevalonate diphosphate decarboxylase is a necessary enzyme in the cholesterol and isoprenoid biosynthesis pathway <ref name = "Byres"/><ref name = "Krepkiy"> 15169949 <ref/> <ref name = "Voynova"/> <ref name = "ByresMartin"/>. Without this enzyme, the cholesterol synthesis production decreases <ref name = "Krepkiy"/>, which can be detrimental to many organisms that rely on the formation of IPP for cholesterol, electron transport, membrane structures and anchors, and signaling pathways <ref name = "ByresMartin"/>.  One such organism that requires MDD, is the Trypanosoma bruceii, a parasite that is transmitted to the human bloodstream through the bite of the tsetse fly, that causes African Sleeping sickness <ref name = "ByresMartin"/>. MDD was thought to be a potential target enzyme for an inhibitor that would disable the catalytic activity of MDD, thereby stopping IPP production and effectively killing the parasite <ref name = "ByresMartin"/>. It is believed now that the MDD found in Trypanosoma bruceii resembles human MDD too closely, and so it would be difficult to make a species specific inhibitor for MDD <ref name = "Byres"/>.