Design and development of drug candidates for Chagas Disease

• Grant number: 13/25658-9
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): March 01, 2014
• Effective date (End): May 28, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biophysics
• Principal Investigator: Glaucius Oliva
• Grantee: Leonardo Luiz Gomes Ferreira
• Home Institution: Instituto de Física de São Carlos (IFSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos, SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/07600-3 - CIBFar - Center for Innovation in Biodiversity and Drug Discovery, AP.CEPID
• Associated scholarship(s): 17/02763-2 - Phenotypic screening and in vitro metabolism studies for Chagas Disease and Leishmaniasis drug discovery, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

Chagas disease is a neglected tropical disease that reaches millions of people, especially in Latin America, where it is endemic. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), Chagas disease occupies a position of high priority in their programs of research and development of new drugs. The available drugs are extremely limited and insufficient, characterized by low efficacy and high toxicity. In this context, the development of new, more effective and safe medicines is of paramount importance.The main goals of this project are the development and evaluation of new drug candidates for Chagas disease. The project is of utmost importance for the Center for Research and Innovation in Biodiversity and Drug Discovery (CIBFar, one of the CEPIDs supported by FAPESP), which has solid partnerships with UNICAMP and DNDi in order to develop drug candidates for neglected diseases such as leishmaniasis and Chagas disease. The project comprises methods of ligand-based drug design (LBDD); organic synthesis; in vitro biological evaluation against the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi and assays on culture of human cells to evaluate the selectivity of the compounds. Computational and experimental methods will be integrated in the process of molecular optimization of the compounds. The project will be developed in the Laboratory of Medicinal and Computational Chemistry (LQMC), at the Physics Institute of São Carlos (IFSC-USP) - the host institution of the CIBFar-CEPID/FAPESP.