Scientists identify number of compounds to treat cancer could add to the anti-malaria arsenal -
Scientists search for new drugs against malaria identified a number of compounds - some of which are currently in clinical trials to treat cancer - that could add to the anti-malaria arsenal
called protein kinase inhibitors Duke University assistant professor Emily Derbyshire and colleagues identified more than 30 molecules blocking enzyme, which pavement. malaria before symptoms begin
focusing on treatments that act early, before a person is infected and feels sick, researchers hope to malaria -. drug resistant strains especially -. less time to spread
results appear online and should appear in an upcoming issue of the journal ChemBioChem .
Malaria is caused by a single-cell parasite called Plasmodium, which is spread from person to person through mosquito bites. When an infected mosquito bites, parasites in the mosquito's saliva first make their way to the liver of the victim, where they grow silently and multiply in thousands of new parasites before invading red blood cells - the stage disease that triggers fever characteristics of malaria, headaches, chills and sweating.
most efforts to find safe and affordable drugs, effective for malaria have focused on the later stage of infection when symptoms are the worst. But Derbyshire and his team are testing chemical compounds in the lab to see if they can identify those that inhibit malaria during the short window when the parasite is still limited to the liver, before the onset of symptoms.
One advantage of the approach his team is that by focusing on the stage of liver life cycle of malaria - before it has a chance to multiply -. means there are fewer parasites to kill
using a strain of malaria that infects rodents, Derbyshire and Jon Clardy of Harvard Medical School tested 1,358 compounds for their ability to keep the parasites in the liver in check, both in test tubes and in mice.
"Previously, researchers were lucky if they could identify one or two promising compounds at once, now with advances in high-throughput screening technology, we can explore thousands at a time, identify many more, "said Derbyshire, associate professor of chemistry and molecular genetics and microbiology at Duke [
focusing on a particular group of compounds blocking of enzymes called inhibitors protein kinase, we identified 31 compounds which inhibit the growth of malaria without harming the host. Several compounds are currently in clinical trials for the treatment of cancers such as leukemia and myeloma.
The same compounds that stopped the stage malaria hiding in the liver also worked against the stage that lives in the blood.
mouse malaria free which received a single dose before being bitten by infected mosquitoes were able to avoid developing the disease altogether.
drugs against malaria have been around for hundreds of years, but the disease still affects over 0 million people and caused hundreds of thousands of lives each year, especially in Asia and Africa. Part of the reason is the ability of malaria escape the attack. One of the deadliest forms of the parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, has already begun to outsmart the most effective antimalarial drugs in the world, artemisinin, in much of Southeast Asia. Infections that used to erase in a single day of treatment now take several days.
Diversifying the antimalarial arsenal could also extend the life of existing drugs, since fewer heavily on our most commonly used weapons give the parasite less opportunities to develop resistance, Derbyshire said.
Another advantage is that the compounds they tested multiple malaria proteins Suppress at once, making it harder for parasites to develop ways around them.
"it makes as a magic bullet," she said.
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