Search for Plasmodium transmission-blocking compounds using new experimental models

• Grant number: 18/24878-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: May 01, 2019
• End date: December 04, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Molecular Genetics and Genetics of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: Daniel Youssef Bargieri
• Grantee: Juliana Calit Paim
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 22/01514-7 - Target identification of PyAz90, a new antimalarial compound, BE.EP.DD

Abstract

Malaria is a preventable, diagnosable and treatable disease. Yet, it causes thousands of deaths every year, and millions of people are still endangered. The vast majority of Malaria cases worldwide are due to infection with Plasmodium vivax or P. falciparum. There is an urgent need to eliminate Malaria, since drug resistance is reappearing. There is general agreement that elimination is not simply a matter of intensifying the use of available tools. New strategies, like transmission-blocking, will be required. Malaria treatment relies on drugs that clear the multiplying asexual stages of the parasite, which are the cause of the disease. However, most of the available antiMalarials have poor activity against the non-multiplicative gametocytes, the stage responsible for parasite transmission to mosquitoes. The World Health Organization considers that new strategies for blocking transmission will be important for Malaria elimination, specifically those inhibiting transmission in the first weeks after antiMalarial treatment starts. This project aims at developing Plasmodium models for high-throughput screening to search for new transmission-blocking drugs in different compound libraries. (AU)

Scientific publications

(8)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

LIMA, MARILIA N. N.; CASSIANO, GUSTAVO C.; TOMAZ, KAIRA C. P.; SILVA, ARTHUR C.; SOUSA, BRUNA K. P.; FERREIRA, LETICIA T.; TAVELLA, TATYANA A.; CALIT, JULIANA; BARGIERI, DANIEL Y.; NEVES, BRUNO J.; et al. Integrative Multi-Kinase Approach for the Identification of Potent Antiplasmodial Hits. FRONTIERS IN CHEMISTRY, v. 7, NOV 21 2019. (18/05926-2, 13/13119-6, 18/07007-4, 17/02353-9, 17/18611-7, 12/16525-2, 18/24878-9, 15/20774-6)

FERREIRA, LETICIA TIBURCIO; RODRIGUES, JULIANA; CASSIANO, GUSTAVO CAPATTI; TAVELLA, TATYANA ALMEIDA; PERALIS TOMAZ, KAIRA CRISTINA; BAIA-DA-SILVA, DJANE CLARYS; SOUZA, MACEJANE FERREIRA; DO NASCIMENTO LIMA, MARILIA NUNES; MOTTIN, MELINA; ALMEIDA, LUDIMILA DIAS; et al. Computational Chemogenomics Drug Repositioning Strategy Enables the Discovery of Epirubicin as a New Repurposed Hit for Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, v. 64, n. 9, SEP 2020. (17/02031-1, 18/24878-9, 13/13119-6, 15/03553-6, 17/01986-8, 15/20774-6)

LIMA, MARILIA N. N.; CASSIANO, GUSTAVO C.; TOMAZ, KAIRA C. P.; SILVA, ARTHUR C.; SOUSA, BRUNA K. P.; FERREIRA, LETICIA T.; TAVELLA, TATYANA A.; CALIT, JULIANA; BARGIERI, DANIEL Y.; NEVES, BRUNO J.; et al. Integrative Multi-Kinase Approach for the Identification of Potent Antiplasmodial Hits. RONTIERS IN CHEMISTR, v. 7, p. 14-pg., 2019-11-21. (17/02353-9, 18/05926-2, 13/13119-6, 18/24878-9, 18/07007-4, 15/20774-6, 12/16525-2, 17/18611-7)

LIMA, MARILIA N. N.; BORBA, JOYCE V. B.; CASSIANO, GUSTAVO C.; MOTTIN, MELINA; MENDONCA, SABRINA S.; SILVA, ARTHUR C.; TOMAZ, KAIRA C. P.; CALIT, JULIANA; BARGIERI, DANIEL Y.; COSTA, FABIO T. M.; et al. Artificial Intelligence Applied to the Rapid Identification of New Antimalarial Candidates with Dual-Stage Activity. CHEMMEDCHEM, v. 16, n. 7, p. 1093-1103, APR 8 2021. (15/20774-6, 13/13119-6, 17/18611-7, 18/24878-9, 18/07007-4, 19/21854-4)

LIMA, MARILIA N. N.; NEVES, BRUNO J.; CASSIANO, GUSTAVO C.; GOMES, MARCELO N.; TOMAZ, KAIRA C. P.; FERREIRA, LETICIA T.; TAVELLA, TATYANA A.; CALIT, JULIANA; BARGIERI, DANIEL Y.; MURATOV, EUGENE N.; et al. Chalcones as a basis for computer-aided drug design: innovative approaches to tackle. Future Medicinal Chemistry, v. 11, n. 20, p. 2635-2646, OCT 2019. (17/02031-1, 13/13119-6, 17/02353-9, 17/18611-7, 12/16525-2, 18/24878-9)

CALIT, JULIANA; ARAUJO, JESSICA E.; DENG, BINGBING; MIURA, KAZUTOYO; GAITAN, XIOMARA A.; ARAUJO, MAISA DA SILVA; MEDEIROS, JANSEN F.; LONG, CAROLE A.; SIMEONOV, ANTON; EASTMAN, RICHARD T.; et al. Novel Transmission-Blocking Antimalarials Identified by High-Throughput Screening of Plasmodium berghei Ookluc. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, v. 67, n. 4, p. 11-pg., 2023-03-01. (18/24878-9, 13/13119-6, 21/06769-0, 19/21507-2)

BORBA, JOYCE V. B.; DE AZEVEDO, BEATRIZ ROSA; FERREIRA, LARISSA A.; RIMOLDI, ALINE; ALVAREZ, LUIS C. SALAZAR; CALIT, JULIANA; BARGIERI, DANIEL Y.; COSTA, FABIO T. M.; ANDRADE, CAROLINA HORTA. Transcriptomics-Guided In Silico Drug Repurposing: Identifying New Candidates with Dual-Stage Antiplasmodial Activity. ACS OMEGA, v. 8, n. 37, p. 7-pg., 2023-09-05. (18/24878-9, 19/21854-4, 21/06769-0, 17/18611-7)

XIOMARA ALEXANDRA GAITÁN; JULIANA CALIT; IRINA DOBRESCU; MARISÉ SOLÓRZANO RAMOS; ALBA MARINA GIMENEZ; DANIEL YOUSSEF BARGIERI. Characterisation of the merozoite thrombospondin related anonymous protein (MTRAP) of Plasmodium berghei as a transmission-blocking antigen. Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, v. 119, 2024-03-22. (19/21507-2, 13/13119-6, 21/06769-0, 18/24878-9, 14/23083-1)