Analysis of aminoterminalend of active site loop of LDH from Plasmodium vivax

ABSTRACTMASTER THESISANALYSIS OF AMINO TERMINAL END OF ACTIVE SITE LOOP OF LDH FROMPLASMODIUM VIVAXBunyamin ATMISFırat UniversityGraduate School of Natural and Appleid SciencesDepartment of Biology2007, Page : 41In this study, amino acid exchanges were made in the amino terminal end of active siteloop of Plasmodium vivax LDH by mimicking Toxoplasma gondii I ve II, Eimeria acervulina,Eimeria tenella ve Theileria parva LDH?s using the site directed mutagenesis method. Despiteenzymatic activity was decreased compared to the production of the wild type protein, some ofenzymatic activity was present meaning that enzyme was still in contact with its substrate.Decrease in the enzymatic activity indicates that this region is sensitive to changes and thissupports the idea that this site could be evaluated as an ideal target for the drug design studiesfor both Plasmodium and some other Apicomplexans.Keywords: Malaria, lactate dehydrogenase, Site-directed mutagenesis, Plasmodium vivax,Apicomplexan.