Researchers at the Organic Synthesis Methodology Group (Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis) and the Francis Crick Institute have designed potential drug-like compounds which effectively block a critical step in the life cycle of the malaria parasite.
These compounds further could be the basis of a new type of antimalarial medicine that would both protect against infection and treat disease. In their research scientists found that one compound in particular was highly effective in human cell tests. This joint research is published in the prestigious journal PNAS (IF = 9.412).
Malaria is a harmful infectious disease that causes over 400,000 deaths annually and affects the lives of nearly half the world’s
population. Despite the already available antimalarial drugs in the market, many existing drugs are ineffective in many regions, meaning that new treatments that work in different ways are urgently needed.
Read the article:
Lidumniece, E.; Withers-Martinez, C.; Hackett, F.; Collins, C. R.; Perrin, A. J.; Koussis, K.; Bisson, C.; Blackman, M. J.*; Jirgensons, J.*
Peptidic boronic acids are potent cell-permeable inhibitors of the malaria parasite egress serine protease SUB1
PNAS 2021, 118 (20) e2022696118; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2022696118