Abstract
Plasmodium has a complex life cycle that spans between mosquito and human. For survival and pathogenesis it banks upon dynamic alterations in ionic transport across organelle and plasma membrane. Being a fundamental contributor of crucial biological processes in parasite, ionic balance facilitates parasite invasion, augmentation and transmission. Past few decades have witnessed tremendous advancement in understanding the relevance of ionic transit in parasites. Perhaps, not surprisingly, disruption of ionic homeostasis was thought to be detrimental for parasite. Compounds like ionophores are known to facilitate ionic transport across membrane down their electrochemical gradient. Despite continuous effort, malaria treatment is still a challenge particularly due to the development of resistance among parasites against existing therapeutic options. However, repurposing the existing drugs can be advantageous over de novo drug development programs in terms of cost and associated risk factors. Ionophores, being used in coccidiosis have proven to be of significance in the treatment of experimental models of malaria. Several recent reports have highlighted the attractive potential of ionophores such as Monensin, Maduramicin, Valinomycin, etc., that can act against multiple stages of malarial parasite’s life cycle. Improved variety of these molecules may help in mitigating the drug resistance problems as well. This review is an attempt to examine the relevant literature and provide insight into the mechanism and prospects of different classes of ionophores as promising anti-malarial potpourri.
Keywords: Ionophore, Malaria, Parasite, Ions, Plasmodium, Therapeutics.
Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry
Title:Ionophores as Potent Anti-malarials: A Miracle in the Making
Volume: 18 Issue: 23
Author(s): Hina Bharti, Aakriti Singal, Mohsin Raza, P.C. Ghosh and Alo Nag*
Affiliation:
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Delhi South Campus, Benito Juarez Road, New Delhi-110021,India
Keywords: Ionophore, Malaria, Parasite, Ions, Plasmodium, Therapeutics.
Abstract: Plasmodium has a complex life cycle that spans between mosquito and human. For survival and pathogenesis it banks upon dynamic alterations in ionic transport across organelle and plasma membrane. Being a fundamental contributor of crucial biological processes in parasite, ionic balance facilitates parasite invasion, augmentation and transmission. Past few decades have witnessed tremendous advancement in understanding the relevance of ionic transit in parasites. Perhaps, not surprisingly, disruption of ionic homeostasis was thought to be detrimental for parasite. Compounds like ionophores are known to facilitate ionic transport across membrane down their electrochemical gradient. Despite continuous effort, malaria treatment is still a challenge particularly due to the development of resistance among parasites against existing therapeutic options. However, repurposing the existing drugs can be advantageous over de novo drug development programs in terms of cost and associated risk factors. Ionophores, being used in coccidiosis have proven to be of significance in the treatment of experimental models of malaria. Several recent reports have highlighted the attractive potential of ionophores such as Monensin, Maduramicin, Valinomycin, etc., that can act against multiple stages of malarial parasite’s life cycle. Improved variety of these molecules may help in mitigating the drug resistance problems as well. This review is an attempt to examine the relevant literature and provide insight into the mechanism and prospects of different classes of ionophores as promising anti-malarial potpourri.
Export Options
About this article
Cite this article as:
Bharti Hina , Singal Aakriti , Raza Mohsin , Ghosh P.C. and Nag Alo *, Ionophores as Potent Anti-malarials: A Miracle in the Making, Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry 2018; 18 (23) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1568026619666181129125950
DOI https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1568026619666181129125950 |
Print ISSN 1568-0266 |
Publisher Name Bentham Science Publisher |
Online ISSN 1873-4294 |
Call for Papers in Thematic Issues
Chemistry Based on Natural Products for Therapeutic Purposes
The development of new pharmaceuticals for a wide range of medical conditions has long relied on the identification of promising natural products (NPs). There are over sixty percent of cancer, infectious illness, and CNS disease medications that include an NP pharmacophore, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Since NP ...read more
Current Trends in Drug Discovery Based on Artificial Intelligence and Computer-Aided Drug Design
Drug development discovery has faced several challenges over the years. In fact, the evolution of classical approaches to modern methods using computational methods, or Computer-Aided Drug Design (CADD), has shown promising and essential results in any drug discovery campaign. Among these methods, molecular docking is one of the most notable ...read more
Drug Discovery in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
In the age of artificial intelligence (AI), we have witnessed a significant boom in AI techniques for drug discovery. AI techniques are increasingly integrated and accelerating the drug discovery process. These developments have not only attracted the attention of academia and industry but also raised important questions regarding the selection ...read more
From Biodiversity to Chemical Diversity: Focus of Flavonoids
Flavonoids are the largest group of polyphenols, plant secondary metabolites arising from the essential aromatic amino acid phenylalanine (or more rarely from tyrosine) via the phenylpropanoid pathway. The flavan nucleus is the basic 15-carbon skeleton of flavonoids (C6-C3-C6), which consists of two phenyl rings (A and B) and a heterocyclic ...read more
- Author Guidelines
- Graphical Abstracts
- Fabricating and Stating False Information
- Research Misconduct
- Post Publication Discussions and Corrections
- Publishing Ethics and Rectitude
- Increase Visibility of Your Article
- Archiving Policies
- Peer Review Workflow
- Order Your Article Before Print
- Promote Your Article
- Manuscript Transfer Facility
- Editorial Policies
- Allegations from Whistleblowers
- Announcements
Related Articles
-
Do You See What I See: Recognition of Protozoan Parasites by Toll-Like Receptors
Current Immunology Reviews (Discontinued) The Impact of Hypertension in Hemodialysis Patients
Current Hypertension Reviews Targeting the Inflammatory Response in Healing Myocardial Infarcts
Current Medicinal Chemistry Erythropoietin and mTOR: A “One-Two Punch” for Aging-Related Disorders Accompanied by Enhanced Life Expectancy
Current Neurovascular Research Statins and Vulnerable Plaque
Current Pharmaceutical Design Atrial Fibrillation with a Focus on Oral Antiarrhythmic Therapy
Current Drug Therapy Trimetazidine: Does it Actually Reduce QT Dispersion After First Acute Myocardial Infarction?
Current Drug Therapy Mitochondria-Targeted Drugs
Current Molecular Pharmacology IL-1 Cytokines in Cardiovascular Disease: Diagnostic, Prognostic and Therapeutic Implications
Cardiovascular & Hematological Agents in Medicinal Chemistry Can Lipoprotein-associated Phospholipase A<sub>2</sub> be Used as a Predictor of Long-term Outcome in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome?
Current Cardiology Reviews Circulating Biomarkers for the Diagnosis and Prognosis of Heart Failure
Current Medicinal Chemistry Novel Strategies for the Management of Acute Decompensated Heart Failure
Current Cardiology Reviews Mitochondrial Disorders in Adults
Current Molecular Medicine Strategies for Enhancing Progenitor Cell Mobilization and Function in Diabetes
Current Vascular Pharmacology Anti Diabetic Evaluation of Methanolic Extract of <i>Psoralea corylifolia</i> L. & <i>Psoralea esculenta</i> L. Seeds in Streptozotocin Induced Diabetic Rats and Histopathological Changes in Diabetic Rats Pancreas: A Comparative Study
The Natural Products Journal Adverse Effects of Statins - Mechanisms and Consequences
Current Drug Safety TGR5 as a Therapeutic Target for Treating Obesity
Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry Evolution and Analysis of Heterogeneity in the Clinical Expression of Aortic Diseases Similar to Marfan’s Syndrome: Challenge and Art in Clinical Diagnosis
Current Rheumatology Reviews A Review on the Phytochemicals, Ethnomedicine Uses and Pharmacology of Ficus Species
Current Traditional Medicine PET Measurements of cAMP-Mediated Phosphodiesterase-4 with (R)-[11C]Rolipram
Current Radiopharmaceuticals