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Schäfer TM, Pessanha de Carvalho L, Inoue J, Kreidenweiss A, Held J. The problem of antimalarial resistance and its implications for drug discovery. Expert Opin Drug Discov 2024; 19:209-224. [PMID: 38108082 DOI: 10.1080/17460441.2023.2284820] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2023] [Accepted: 11/14/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Malaria remains a devastating infectious disease with hundreds of thousands of casualties each year. Antimalarial drug resistance has been a threat to malaria control and elimination for many decades and is still of concern today. Despite the continued effectiveness of current first-line treatments, namely artemisinin-based combination therapies, the emergence of drug-resistant parasites in Southeast Asia and even more alarmingly the occurrence of resistance mutations in Africa is of great concern and requires immediate attention. AREAS COVERED A comprehensive overview of the mechanisms underlying the acquisition of drug resistance in Plasmodium falciparum is given. Understanding these processes provides valuable insights that can be harnessed for the development and selection of novel antimalarials with reduced resistance potential. Additionally, strategies to mitigate resistance to antimalarial compounds on the short term by using approved drugs are discussed. EXPERT OPINION While employing strategies that utilize already approved drugs may offer a prompt and cost-effective approach to counter antimalarial drug resistance, it is crucial to recognize that only continuous efforts into the development of novel antimalarial drugs can ensure the successful treatment of malaria in the future. Incorporating resistance propensity assessment during this developmental process will increase the likelihood of effective and enduring malaria treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Juliana Inoue
- Institute of Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Andrea Kreidenweiss
- Institute of Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné, Lambaréné, Gabon
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Tübingen, Germany
| | - Jana Held
- Institute of Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné, Lambaréné, Gabon
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Tübingen, Germany
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Bosc N, Felix E, Gardner JMF, Mills J, Timmerman M, Asveld D, Rensen K, Mukherjee P, Das R, Chenu E, Besson D, Burrows JN, Duffy J, Laleu B, Guantai EM, Leach AR. MAIP: An Open-Source Tool to Enrich High-Throughput Screening Output and Identify Novel, Druglike Molecules with Antimalarial Activity. ACS Med Chem Lett 2023; 14:1733-1741. [PMID: 38116432 PMCID: PMC10726451 DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.3c00369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2023] [Revised: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 11/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Efforts to tackle malaria must continue for a disease that threatens half of the global population. Parasite resistance to current therapies requires new chemotypes that are able to demonstrate effectiveness and safety. Previously, we developed a machine-learning-based approach to predict compound antimalarial activity, which was trained on the compound collections of several organizations. The resulting prediction platform, MAIP, was made freely available to the scientific community and offers a solution to prioritize molecules of interest in virtual screening and hit-to-lead optimization. Here, we experimentally validate MAIP and demonstrate how the approach was used in combination with a robust compound selection workflow and a recently introduced innovative high-throughput screening (HTS) cascade to select and purchase compounds from a public library for subsequent experimental screening. We observed a 12-fold enrichment compared with a randomly selected set of molecules, and the eight hits we ultimately selected exhibit good potency and absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) profiles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Bosc
- European
Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics
Institute (EMBL-EBI), Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire CB10 1SD, United Kingdom
| | - Eloy Felix
- European
Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics
Institute (EMBL-EBI), Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire CB10 1SD, United Kingdom
| | - J. Mark F. Gardner
- AMG
Consultants Ltd, Discovery
Park House, Discovery Park, Sandwich, Kent CT13 9ND, United Kingdom
| | - James Mills
- Sandexis
Medicinal Chemistry Ltd, Innovation House, Discovery Park, Sandwich, Kent CT13 9FF, United Kingdom
| | - Martijn Timmerman
- Pivot
Park Screening Centre, Pivot Park (Frederick Banting Building), Kloosterstraat 9, 5349 AB Oss, The Netherlands
| | - Dennis Asveld
- Pivot
Park Screening Centre, Pivot Park (Frederick Banting Building), Kloosterstraat 9, 5349 AB Oss, The Netherlands
| | - Kim Rensen
- Pivot
Park Screening Centre, Pivot Park (Frederick Banting Building), Kloosterstraat 9, 5349 AB Oss, The Netherlands
| | - Partha Mukherjee
- TCG
Life Sciences, Bengal Intelligent Park Limited, Block EP & GP, Salt Lake Electronics
Complex, Sector V, Kolkata, West Bengal 700091, India
| | - Rishi Das
- TCG
Life Sciences, Bengal Intelligent Park Limited, Block EP & GP, Salt Lake Electronics
Complex, Sector V, Kolkata, West Bengal 700091, India
| | - Elodie Chenu
- Medicines
for Malaria Ventures, 1215 Geneva, Switzerland
| | | | | | - James Duffy
- Medicines
for Malaria Ventures, 1215 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Benoît Laleu
- Medicines
for Malaria Ventures, 1215 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Eric M. Guantai
- Department
of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi, 00202 Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Andrew R. Leach
- European
Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics
Institute (EMBL-EBI), Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire CB10 1SD, United Kingdom
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Moyo P, Invernizzi L, Mianda SM, Rudolph W, Andayi WA, Wang M, Crouch NR, Maharaj VJ. Leveraging off higher plant phylogenetic insights for antiplasmodial drug discovery. Nat Prod Bioprospect 2023; 13:35. [PMID: 37798547 PMCID: PMC10555984 DOI: 10.1007/s13659-023-00396-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2023] [Accepted: 09/03/2023] [Indexed: 10/07/2023]
Abstract
The antimalarial drug-resistance conundrum which threatens to reverse the great strides taken to curb the malaria scourge warrants an urgent need to find novel chemical scaffolds to serve as templates for the development of new antimalarial drugs. Plants represent a viable alternative source for the discovery of unique potential antiplasmodial chemical scaffolds. To expedite the discovery of new antiplasmodial compounds from plants, the aim of this study was to use phylogenetic analysis to identify higher plant orders and families that can be rationally prioritised for antimalarial drug discovery. We queried the PubMed database for publications documenting antiplasmodial properties of natural compounds isolated from higher plants. Thereafter, we manually collated compounds reported along with plant species of origin and relevant pharmacological data. We systematically assigned antiplasmodial-associated plant species into recognised families and orders, and then computed the resistance index, selectivity index and physicochemical properties of the compounds from each taxonomic group. Correlating the generated phylogenetic trees and the biological data of each clade allowed for the identification of 3 'hot' plant orders and families. The top 3 ranked plant orders were the (i) Caryophyllales, (ii) Buxales, and (iii) Chloranthales. The top 3 ranked plant families were the (i) Ancistrocladaceae, (ii) Simaroubaceae, and (iii) Buxaceae. The highly active natural compounds (IC50 ≤ 1 µM) isolated from these plant orders and families are structurally unique to the 'legacy' antimalarial drugs. Our study was able to identify the most prolific taxa at order and family rank that we propose be prioritised in the search for potent, safe and drug-like antimalarial molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phanankosi Moyo
- Biodiscovery Center, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X 20, Hatfield, Pretoria, 0028, South Africa
| | - Luke Invernizzi
- Biodiscovery Center, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X 20, Hatfield, Pretoria, 0028, South Africa
| | - Sephora M Mianda
- Biodiscovery Center, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X 20, Hatfield, Pretoria, 0028, South Africa
| | - Wiehan Rudolph
- Biodiscovery Center, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X 20, Hatfield, Pretoria, 0028, South Africa
| | - Warren A Andayi
- Department of Physical and Biological Sciences, Murang'a University of Technology, Murang'a, Kenya
| | - Mingxun Wang
- Computer Science and Engineering, University of California Riverside, 900 University Ave, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA
| | - Neil R Crouch
- Biodiversity Research and Monitoring Directorate, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Berea Road, P.O. Box 52099, Durban, 4007, South Africa
- School of Chemistry and Physics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4041, South Africa
| | - Vinesh J Maharaj
- Biodiscovery Center, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X 20, Hatfield, Pretoria, 0028, South Africa.
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Miyazaki Y, Vos MW, Geurten FJA, Bigeard P, Kroeze H, Yoshioka S, Arisawa M, Inaoka DK, Soulard V, Dechering KJ, Franke-Fayard B, Miyazaki S. A versatile Plasmodium falciparum reporter line expressing NanoLuc enables highly sensitive multi-stage drug assays. Commun Biol 2023; 6:713. [PMID: 37438491 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05078-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 07/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Transgenic luciferase-expressing Plasmodium falciparum parasites have been widely used for the evaluation of anti-malarial compounds. Here, to screen for anti-malarial drugs effective against multiple stages of the parasite, we generate a P. falciparum reporter parasite that constitutively expresses NanoLuciferase (NanoLuc) throughout its whole life cycle. The NanoLuc-expressing P. falciparum reporter parasite shows a quantitative NanoLuc signal in the asexual blood, gametocyte, mosquito, and liver stages. We also establish assay systems to evaluate the anti-malarial activity of compounds at the asexual blood, gametocyte, and liver stages, and then determine the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of several anti-malarial compounds. Through the development of this robust high-throughput screening system, we identify an anti-malarial compound that kills the asexual blood stage parasites. Our study highlights the utility of the NanoLuc reporter line, which may advance anti-malarial drug development through the improved screening of compounds targeting the human malarial parasite at multiple stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yukiko Miyazaki
- Department of Molecular Infection Dynamics, Institute of Tropical Medicine (NEKKEN), Nagasaki University, 852-8523, Nagasaki, Japan.
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands.
- Department of Protozoology, Institute of Tropical Medicine (NEKKEN), Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.
| | - Martijn W Vos
- TropIQ Health Sciences, Transistorweg 5, 6534 AT, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Fiona J A Geurten
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Pierre Bigeard
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, CNRS, Centre d'Immunologie et des Maladies Infectieuses, CIMI-Paris, F-75013, Paris, France
| | - Hans Kroeze
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Shohei Yoshioka
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University, 565-0871, Osaka, Japan
| | - Mitsuhiro Arisawa
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University, 565-0871, Osaka, Japan
| | - Daniel Ken Inaoka
- Department of Molecular Infection Dynamics, Institute of Tropical Medicine (NEKKEN), Nagasaki University, 852-8523, Nagasaki, Japan
- School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, 852-8523, Japan
- Department of Biomedical Chemistry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan
| | - Valerie Soulard
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, CNRS, Centre d'Immunologie et des Maladies Infectieuses, CIMI-Paris, F-75013, Paris, France
| | - Koen J Dechering
- TropIQ Health Sciences, Transistorweg 5, 6534 AT, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Blandine Franke-Fayard
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Shinya Miyazaki
- Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands.
- Department of Cellular Architecture Studies, Institute of Tropical Medicine (NEKKEN), Nagasaki University, 852-8523, Nagasaki, Japan.
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Miglianico M, Bolscher JM, Vos MW, Koolen KJM, de Bruijni M, Rajagopal DS, Chen E, Kiczun M, Gray D, Campo B, Sauerwein RW, Dechering KJ. Assessment of the drugability of initial malaria infection through miniaturized sporozoite assays and high-throughput screening. Commun Biol 2023; 6:216. [PMID: 36823266 PMCID: PMC9950425 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-04599-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2022] [Accepted: 02/15/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2023] Open
Abstract
The sporozoite stages of malaria parasites are the primary cause of infection of the vertebrate host and are targeted by (experimental) vaccines. Yet, little is known about their susceptibility to chemical intervention. Phenotypic high-throughput screens have not been feasible due to a lack of in vitro systems. Here we tested 78 marketed and experimental antimalarial compounds in miniaturized assays addressing sporozoite viability, gliding motility, hepatocyte traversal, and intrahepatocytic schizogony. None potently interfered with sporozoite viability or motility but ten compounds acted at the level of schizogony with IC50s < 100 nM. To identify compounds directly targeting sporozoites, we screened 81,000 compounds from the Global Health Diversity and reFRAME libraries in a sporozoite viability assay using a parasite expressing a luciferase reporter driven by the circumsporozoite promoter. The ionophore gramicidin emerged as the single hit from this screening campaign. Its effect on sporozoite viability translated into reduced gliding motility and an inability of sporozoites to invade human primary hepatocytes and develop into hepatic schizonts. While providing proof of concept for a small molecule sporontocidal mode of action, our combined data indicate that liver schizogony is more accessible to chemical intervention by (candidate) antimalarials.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Emily Chen
- Calibr, a division of The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Michael Kiczun
- Drug Discovery Unit, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom
| | - David Gray
- Drug Discovery Unit, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom
| | - Brice Campo
- Medicines for Malaria Venture, Geneva, Switzerland
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