Effect of nerolidol in Plasmodium spp.: studies in vivo and in vitro

• Grant number: 13/24947-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: April 01, 2014
• End date: September 30, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry
• Principal Investigator: Alejandro Miguel Katzin
• Grantee: Adriana Alejandra Marin Rodriguez
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Worldwide malaria kills over a million people a year, mostly children, being one of the most important infectious diseases and a major public health problem. Moreover, the emergence of strains resistant to chemotherapeutic agents used to study new targets for treatments against this disease is needed. Through the studies conducted in our laboratory on the biosynthesis of isoprenoids, in intra- erythrocytic forms of Plasmodium falciparum , it was demonstrated that the plasmodium an active biosynthetic pathway for isoprenoid pathway using 2- C-methyl -D- erythritol - 4 -phosphate ( MEP) from pyruvate and glyceraldehyde- 3-phosphate and that it is capable of synthesizing dolicóis 11 and 12 isoprene units, 7-8-9 chains of isoprene units connected to the benzoquinone ring of Coenzyme Q7 -8 -9, carotenes and some vitamins. From these studies, inhibitors of isoprenoid biosynthesis have been studied and are showing the same antimalarial activity in vitro and in vivo. Given this fact, it is believed that the isoprenoid pathway is a target for the development of new antimalarial drugs and therefore this design objective would be to search potential antimalarial effect of nerolidol, by inhibiting a key enzyme in the pathway isoprenoid Plasmodium spp. (AU)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

RODRIGUEZ, Adriana Alejandra Marin. Evaluation of perillyl alcohol as potential antimalarial in Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium berghei.. 2015. Master's Dissertation - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB/SDI) São Paulo.