Friday, March 17, 2023
News on Pathogens and Preparedness
Global Biodefense
  • Featured
  • COVID-19
  • Funding
  • Directory
  • Jobs
  • Events
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
  • Featured
  • COVID-19
  • Funding
  • Directory
  • Jobs
  • Events
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
Global Biodefense
No Result
View All Result
Home Medical Countermeasures

Novel Technique for Finding Malaria Drug Targets

by Global Biodefense Staff
February 12, 2015
NAMRU-6 Malaria

A novel approach developed by scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University with colleagues from Columbia University allows researchers to readily screen thousands of drugs to find those potentially able to kill P. falciparum.

With support from a $3.45 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Einstein’s Myles Akabas, M.D., Ph.D., developed a novel yeast-based high-throughput assay for identifying inhibitors of the PfENT1 transporter. Dr. Akabas worked with two MSTP students in his lab (I.J. Frame and Roman Deniskin) as well as colleagues at Einstein (Drs. Ian Willis and Robyn Moir) and Columbia University (Drs. Donald Landry and David Fidock).

The researchers used their technique to screen 64,560 different compounds. They identified 171 potential antimalarial drugs. Studies of nine of the most potent drugs showed that they kill P. falciparum parasites in laboratory culture.

The team’s results were recently described in the online edition of ACS Chemical Biology.

Scientists have known for more than a decade that malaria parasites have an Achilles heel: Like all cells, they require two key building blocks–purines and pyrimidines–to synthesize their DNA and RNA. But malaria parasites can’t synthesize purines on their own. Instead, they must import purines from the host red blood cells that they invade.

A parasite protein called PfENT1 transports purines from blood cell into the parasites. So drugs that block PfENT1 could conceivably kill the parasites by depriving them of purines they need–but an experimental approach for identifying PfENT1 inhibitors didn’t exist, until now.

“We’ve shown that the PfENT1 transporter is a potential drug target for developing novel antimalarial drugs,” said Dr. Akabas, senior author of the ACS Chemical Biology paper and a professor of physiology & biophysics, of medicine and in the Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience at Einstein. “By using our rather simple approach, scientists could create similar high-throughput screens to identify inhibitors for killing other parasites that rely on transporters to import essential nutrients.”

Each year nearly 600,000 people die from malaria, caused by single-celled parasites that grow inside red blood cells.

Read the study: Yeast-Based High-Throughput Screen Identifies Plasmodium falciparum Equilibrative Nucleoside Transporter 1 Inhibitors That Kill Malaria Parasites.

Tags: AntiviralsMalaria

Related Posts

Influenza Proteins Tilt and Wave in ‘Breath-like’ Motions
Pathogens

Influenza Proteins Tilt and Wave in ‘Breath-like’ Motions

January 25, 2023
DARPA Selects Teams to Develop Vaccine Durability Prediction Model
Medical Countermeasures

DARPA Selects Teams to Develop Vaccine Durability Prediction Model

January 13, 2023
small glass vials on an assembly line await filling of vaccine solution
Industry News

Sabin Vaccine Institute to Advance Ebola Sudan and Marburg Vaccines with New BARDA Funding

January 12, 2023
How Are Bivalent COVID Vaccines Stacking Up Against Omicron?
Infectious Diseases

How Are Bivalent COVID Vaccines Stacking Up Against Omicron?

January 12, 2023
Load More

Latest News

Biodefense Headlines – 12 March 2023

Biodefense Headlines – 12 March 2023

March 12, 2023
Partner Therapeutics’ Novel Approach to Stratify Sepsis Patients Gains Backing From BARDA

Biopreparedness Research Virtual Environment (BRaVE) Initiative Backed by $105M DOE Funding

January 25, 2023
Influenza Proteins Tilt and Wave in ‘Breath-like’ Motions

Influenza Proteins Tilt and Wave in ‘Breath-like’ Motions

January 25, 2023
Biodefense Headlines – 24 January 2023

Biodefense Headlines – 24 January 2023

January 24, 2023

Subscribe

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Subscribe

© 2022 Stemar Media Group LLC

No Result
View All Result
  • Featured
  • COVID-19
  • Funding
  • Directory
  • Jobs
  • Events
  • Subscribe

© 2022 Stemar Media Group LLC

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are okay with it.OkPrivacy policy