Trafficked Proteins—Druggable in Plasmodium falciparum?

Malaria is an infectious disease that results in serious health problems in the countries in which it is endemic. Annually this parasitic disease leads to more than half a million deaths; most of these are children in Africa. An effective vaccine is not available, and the treatment of the disease is...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jasmin Lindner, Kamila Anna Meissner, Isolmar Schettert, Carsten Wrenger
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2013-01-01
Series:International Journal of Cell Biology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/435981
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Summary:Malaria is an infectious disease that results in serious health problems in the countries in which it is endemic. Annually this parasitic disease leads to more than half a million deaths; most of these are children in Africa. An effective vaccine is not available, and the treatment of the disease is solely dependent on chemotherapy. However, drug resistance is spreading, and the identification of new drug targets as well as the development of new antimalarials is urgently required. Attention has been drawn to a variety of essential plasmodial proteins, which are targeted to intra- or extracellular destinations, such as the digestive vacuole, the apicoplast, or into the host cell. Interfering with the action or the transport of these proteins will impede proliferation of the parasite. In this mini review, we will shed light on the present discovery of chemotherapeutics and potential drug targets involved in protein trafficking processes in the malaria parasite.
ISSN:1687-8876
1687-8884