Imaging of Plasmodium Liver Stages to Drive Next-Generation Antimalarial Drug Discovery

SUMMARYMalaria is a disease that still affects a significant proportion of the global human population. Whilst advances have been made in lowering the numbers of cases and deaths, it is clear that a strategy based solely on disease control year on year, without reducing transmission and ultimately eradicating the parasite, is unsustainable. This article highlights the current mainstay treatments alongside a selection of emerging new clinical molecules from the portfolio of Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) and our partners. In each case, the key highlights from each research phase are described to demonstrate how these new potential medicines were discovered. Given the increased focus of the community on eradicating the disease, the strategy for next generation combination medicines that will provide such potential is explained.

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of Imaging of Plasmodium liver stages to drive next-generation antimalarial drug discovery.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.13405001.14859115 ◽

2012 ◽

Author(s):

Wesley Van Voorhis

Keyword(s):

Drug Discovery ◽

Antimalarial Drug ◽

Next Generation

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Sitagliptin: a potential drug for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2?

10.31222/osf.io/78mbt ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sanaa Bardaweel

Keyword(s):

Clinical Trials ◽

Drug Discovery ◽

Antimalarial Drug ◽

Drug Repurposing ◽

Spike Protein ◽

Diabetic Patients ◽

Potential Drug ◽

Chemokine Production ◽

Drug Discovery And Development ◽

Sequence Identity

Recently, an outbreak of fatal coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has emerged from China and is rapidly spreading worldwide. As the coronavirus pandemic rages, drug discovery and development become even more challenging. Drug repurposing of the antimalarial drug chloroquine and its hydroxylated form had demonstrated apparent effectiveness in the treatment of COVID-19 associated pneumonia in clinical trials. SARS-CoV-2 spike protein shares 31.9% sequence identity with the spike protein presents in the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus (MERS-CoV), which infects cells through the interaction of its spike protein with the DPP4 receptor found on macrophages. Sitagliptin, a DPP4 inhibitor, that is known for its antidiabetic, immunoregulatory, anti-inflammatory, and beneficial cardiometabolic effects has been shown to reverse macrophage responses in MERS-CoV infection and reduce CXCL10 chemokine production in AIDS patients. We suggest that Sitagliptin may be beneficial alternative for the treatment of COVID-19 disease especially in diabetic patients and patients with preexisting cardiovascular conditions who are already at higher risk of COVID-19 infection.

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Editorial [Antimalarial Drug Discovery and Design in the Era of Resistance Executive Guest Editor: Angus Bell]

Current Pharmaceutical Design ◽

10.2174/1381612811306020264 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 264-265

Author(s):

Angus Bell

Keyword(s):

Drug Discovery ◽

Guest Editor ◽

Antimalarial Drug

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The applications of next-generation sequencing (NGS) in drug development for cancer therapy

Current Analytical Chemistry ◽

10.2174/1573411016999200626193227 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 16 ◽

Author(s):

Pelin Telkoparan-Akillilar ◽

Dilek Cevik

Keyword(s):

Next Generation Sequencing ◽

Drug Discovery ◽

Cancer Therapy ◽

Target Identification ◽

Rapid Development ◽

Next Generation ◽

Biomedical Sciences ◽

Dna And Rna ◽

Next Generation Sequencing Ngs ◽

Generation Sequencing

Background: Numerous sequencing techniques have been progressed since the 1960s with the rapid development of molecular biology studies focusing on DNA and RNA. Methods: a great number of articles, book chapters, websites are reviewed, and the studies covering NGS history, technology and applications to cancer therapy are included in the present article. Results: High throughput next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies offer many advantages over classical Sanger sequencing with decreasing cost per base and increasing sequencing efficiency. NGS technologies are combined with bioinformatics software to sequence genomes to be used in diagnostics, transcriptomics, epidemiologic and clinical trials in biomedical sciences. The NGS technology has also been successfully used in drug discovery for the treatment of different cancer types. Conclusion: This review focuses on current and potential applications of NGS in various stages of drug discovery process, from target identification through to personalized medicine.

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