Last Updated: 15/10/2025
Evaluation of possible inhibitors of the biosynthesis of prenylquinones and prenylated fatty acids in the intraerythrocyte stages of Plasmodium falciparum
Objectives
This research grant focuses on evaluating potential inhibitors of prenylquinones and prenylated fatty acids biosynthesis in Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite responsible for malaria, which poses a significant health threat globally. Given the emergence of drug resistance, the study aims to identify new antimalarial compounds that target essential biosynthetic pathways unique to the parasite, potentially impacting its development and survival.
Tertiary and malignant malaria is a human disease caused by the protozoan Plasmodium falciparum. The World Health Organization estimated that in 2015, between 149 and 303 million people were affected by malaria, of which about 438,000 died. Most deaths occur in children and pregnant women. Resistance to the currently used drugs has already emerged. Because of this, it becomes necessary to find targets for the development of new antimalarials. The study of essential pathways for the parasite and absent in the vertebrate host is a strategy for the development of new drugs. After demonstrating the biosynthesis of isoprenoids using the 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol-4-phosphate (MEP) pathway in P. falciparum, our laboratory has studied several secondary biosynthetic pathways of isoprene compounds as a possible target for the treatment of the disease. . In this line, our group was able to identify several prenylquinones in Plasmodium falciparum such as tocopherol, menaquinone, ubiquinone and is currently obtaining evidence of the presence of phylloquinone. It is rational to think that an inhibition of the biosynthesis of these substances could affect the development of the parasite. In fact, some compounds that alter the biosynthesis of different isoprene compounds have already been successfully tested in Plasmodium.
Oct 2016 — Sep 2018
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