Dataset Information

CRIMALDDI: a prioritized research agenda to expedite the discovery of new anti-malarial drugs.

ABSTRACT: The CRIMALDDI Consortium has been a three-year project funded by the EU Framework Seven Programme. It aimed to develop a prioritized set of recommendations to speed up anti-malarial drug discovery research and contribute to the setting of the global research agenda. It has attempted to align thinking on the high priority issues and then to develop action plans and strategies to address these issues. Through a series of facilitated and interactive workshops, it has concluded that these priorities can be grouped under five key themes: attacking artemisinin resistance; creating and sharing community resources; delivering enabling technologies; exploiting high throughput screening hits quickly; and, identifying novel targets. Recommendations have been prioritized into one of four levels: quick wins; removing key roadblocks to future progress; speeding-up drug discovery; and, nice to have (but not essential). Use of this prioritization allows efforts and resources to be focused on the lines of work that will contribute most to expediting anti-malarial drug discovery. Estimates of the time and finances required to implement the recommendations have also been made, along with indications of when recommendations within each theme will make an impact. All of this has been collected into an indicative roadmap that, it is hoped, will guide decisions about the direction and focus of European anti-malarial drug discovery research and contribute to the setting of the global research agenda.

SUBMITTER: Ward SA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3830512 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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CRIMALDDI: a prioritized research agenda to expedite the discovery of new anti-malarial drugs.

Ward Steve A SA Boulton Ian C IC

Malaria journal 20131105

The CRIMALDDI Consortium has been a three-year project funded by the EU Framework Seven Programme. It aimed to develop a prioritized set of recommendations to speed up anti-malarial drug discovery research and contribute to the setting of the global research agenda. It has attempted to align thinking on the high priority issues and then to develop action plans and strategies to address these issues. Through a series of facilitated and interactive workshops, it has concluded that these priorities ...[more]

PMID: 24191947

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Project description:BackgroundThe erythrocytic stage of Plasmodium falciparum parasites in humans is clinically important, as the parasites at this growth stage causes malarial symptoms. Most of the currently available anti-malarial drugs target this stage, but the emergence and spread of parasites resistant to anti-malarial drugs are a major challenge to global eradication efforts; therefore, the development of novel medicines is urgently required. In this study, the in vitro anti-malarial activity of five current anti-malarial drugs (artemisinin, atovaquone, chloroquine, mefloquine, and pyrimethamine) and 400 compounds from the Pathogen Box provided by the Medicines for Malaria Venture on P. falciparum parasites was characterized using the XN-30 analyzer. Furthermore, the outcomes obtained using the analyser were classified according to the parasitaemias of total and each developmental stages.ResultsThe growth inhibition rate and the half-maximal (50%) inhibitory concentration (IC50) of the five current anti-malarial drugs were calculated from the parasitaemia detected using the XN-30 analyzer. Respective strains and drugs presented strongly fitted sigmoidal curves, and the median SD at all tested concentrations was 1.6, suggesting that the variation in values measured with the analyser was acceptably low for the comparison of drug efficacy. Furthermore, the anti-malarial activity of the 400 compounds from the Pathogen Box was tested, and 141 drugs were found to be effective. In addition, the efficacy was classified into 4 types (Type I, parasites were arrested or killed without DNA replication; Type II, parasites were arrested or killed similar to Type I, and the parasitaemia was apparently decreased; Type III, parasites progressed to trophozoite without sufficient DNA replication; and Type IV, parasites were arrested at late trophozoite or schizont after DNA replication).ConclusionThe current study demonstrates that the XN-30 analyzer objectively, reproducibly, and easily evaluated and characterized the anti-malarial efficacy of various compounds. The results indicate the potential of the XN-30 analyzer as a powerful tool for drug discovery and development in addition to its use as an important diagnostic tool.

Project description:BackgroundThe critically important issue on emergence of drug-resistant malarial parasites is compounded by cross resistance, where resistance to one drug confers resistance to other chemically similar drugs or those that share mode of action. This aspect requires discovery of new anti-malarial compounds or formulation of new combination therapy. The current study attempts to contribute towards accelerating anti-malarial drug development efforts, by exploring the potential of existing FDA-approved drugs to target proteins of Plasmodium falciparum.MethodsUsing comparative sequence and structure analyses, FDA-approved drugs, originally developed against other pathogens, were identified as potential repurpose-able candidates against P. falciparum. The rationale behind the undertaken approach is the likeliness of small molecules to bind to homologous targets. Such a study of evolutionary relationships between established targets and P. falciparum proteins aided in identification of approved drug candidates that can be explored for their anti-malarial potential.ResultsSeventy-one FDA-approved drugs were identified that could be repurposed against P. falciparum. A total of 89 potential targets were recognized, of which about 70 are known to participate in parasite housekeeping machinery, protein biosynthesis, metabolic pathways and cell growth and differentiation, which can be prioritized for chemotherapeutic interventions. An additional aspect of prioritization of predicted repurpose-able drugs has been explored on the basis of ability of the drugs to permeate cell membranes, i.e., lipophilicity, since the parasite resides within a parasitophorous vacuole, within the erythrocyte, during the blood stages of infection. Based on this consideration, 46 of 71 FDA-approved drugs have been identified as feasible repurpose-able candidates against P. falciparum, and form a first-line for laboratory investigations. At least five of the drugs identified in the current analysis correspond to existing antibacterial agents already under use as repurposed anti-malarial agents.ConclusionsThe drug-target associations predicted, primarily by taking advantage of evolutionary information, provide a valuable resource of attractive and feasible candidate drugs that can be readily taken through further stages of anti-malarial drug development pipeline.

Dataset Information

CRIMALDDI: a prioritized research agenda to expedite the discovery of new anti-malarial drugs.

Publications

CRIMALDDI: a prioritized research agenda to expedite the discovery of new anti-malarial drugs.

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