Last Updated: 10/03/2023
Anti-malarial drug leads from fungi
Objectives
To isolate, elucidate, and evaluate antimalarial drug leads from 8 fungal cultures that have potent antimalarial activity, minimal cytotoxicity to mammalian cells, and do not biosynthesize common nuisance compounds (i.e. mycotoxins).
There is a need for new antimalarial drug leads, particularly for treating drug resistant malaria. Fungi have been the source of many drug leads, with penicillin and the statins as two of the most prominent examples. It is hypothesized that fungi harbor antimalarial drug leads, and this is being addressed via a team with expertise in mycology (Mycosynthetix/Pearce), natural products chemistry (UNCG/Oberlies), and parasitology/malaria (UGA/Kyle). In the examination of 40,000 fungal cultures from the Mycosythetix library, biological and chemical protocols to prioritize the efforts have been implemented.
May 2021 — Apr 2023
$398,769
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