Novel targets for malaria therapy

Curr Drug Targets. 2011 Dec;12(14):2129-43. doi: 10.2174/138945011798829384.

Abstract

Malaria has emerged as one of the most debilitating parasitic infection with about 500 million cases reported annually and one million deaths worldwide. Currently, Plasmodium falciparum has developed resistance to almost all classes of antimalarials, thus precluding the use of those agents which once formed the cornerstone of malaria therapy. In lieu of this phenomenon, and taking into consideration the absence of an effective vaccine for malaria, the only way to combat the deadly parasite is to enrich the antimalarial cache with new molecules acting on fresh targets in the parasite. After potential targets have been validated, these targets can be used as basis for screening compounds to identify new leads followed by lead optimization. This review discusses novel targets of the malaria parasite that can be utilized to treat the disease.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antimalarials / pharmacology*
  • Choline / metabolism
  • Cyclin-Dependent Kinases / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Erythrocytes / metabolism
  • Glucose / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Malaria / drug therapy*
  • Monosaccharide Transport Proteins / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Pantothenic Acid / metabolism
  • Protease Inhibitors / therapeutic use
  • Protozoan Proteins / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Terpenes / metabolism

Substances

  • Antimalarials
  • Monosaccharide Transport Proteins
  • Protease Inhibitors
  • Protozoan Proteins
  • Terpenes
  • hexose transporter 1 protein, Plasmodium falciparum
  • Pantothenic Acid
  • Cyclin-Dependent Kinases
  • Glucose
  • Choline