Iron, as an essential micronutrient, plays a crucial role in host-pathogen interactions. In order to limit the growth of the pathogen, a common strategy of innate immunity includes withdrawing available iron to interfere with the cellular processes of the microorganism. Against that, unicellular parasites have developed powerful strategies to scavenge iron, despite the effort of the host. Iron-sequestering compounds, such as the approved and potent chelator deferoxamine (DFO), are considered a viable option for therapeutic intervention. Since iron is heavily utilized in the mitochondrion, targeting iron chelators in this organelle could constitute an effective therapeutic strategy. This work presents mitochondrially targeted DFO, mitoDFO, as a candidate against a range of unicellular parasites with promising in vitro efficiency. Intracellular Leishmania infection can be cleared by this compound, and experimentation with Trypanosoma brucei 427 elucidates its possible mode of action. The compound not only affects iron homeostasis but also alters the physiochemical properties of the inner mitochondrial membrane, resulting in a loss of function. Furthermore, investigating the virulence factors of pathogenic yeasts confirms that mitoDFO is a viable candidate for therapeutic intervention against a wide spectrum of microbe-associated diseases.

Centre for Infectious Diseases Parasitology Heidelberg University Hospital Heidelberg 69120 Germany

Department of Organic Chemistry Faculty of Science Charles University Prague 128 00 Czech Republic

Department of Parasitology Faculty of Science Charles University BIOCEV Vestec 25250 Czech Republic

Graduate Program in Areas of Basic and Applied Biology Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar Universidade do Porto Porto 4050 313 Portugal

Institute of Biotechnology Czech Academy of Sciences BIOCEV Vestec 25250 Czech Republic

Institute of Parasitology Biology Centre Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Branišovská 1160 31 České Budějovice 37005 Czech Republic

Laboratory of Clinical Pathophysiology Diabetes Centre Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine Videnska 1958 9 140 21 Prague Czech Republic

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