Discovery of natural products isolated from fungal lineages as lead candidates for Malaria

• Grant number: 24/04949-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: May 01, 2024
• End date: April 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Organic Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Rafael Victorio Carvalho Guido
• Grantee: Talita Alvarenga Valdes
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física de São Carlos (IFSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 19/17721-9 - The role of Chemistry in holobiont adaptation, AP.TEM

Abstract

Malaria remains a lethal parasitic disease with a global prevalence, and despite extensive efforts to find new drugs, the mortality rate remains high. Given the vast structural diversity and potent biological activities of natural products, they represent attractive candidates for discovering and developing novel therapeutics. Fungi from various sources have been extensively studied for their ability to produce compounds with antimalarial properties. Building on the imperative of discovering new antiplasmodial compounds, this project seeks to identify and characterize bioactive compounds isolated from fungal metabolites. These could serve as lead candidates for developing novel antimalarial drugs. These compounds will be sourced from fungal strains, and their antiplasmodial and cytotoxic activities will be rigorously assessed through standardized in vitro and in vivo assays. (AU)