Plasmodium falciparum neutral aminopeptidases: structure-function analysis for the discovery of anti-malarial drugs.

疟疾是世界上最普遍的寄生虫病。由于抗药性寄生虫的传播，迫切需要确定新的抗疟疾靶点并开发新药。我们已经表明，两种酶，称为中性氨肽酶，是必不可少的寄生虫在宿主中的生存。在这项提案中，我们将获得这些酶的结构，并提出新的先导化合物，这些化合物将成为一类新的抗疟疾治疗的基础。

Malaria is the world's most prevalent parasitic disease. Due to the spread of drug resistant parasites there is an urgent need to identify new anti-malaria targets and develop new drugs. We have shown that two enzymes, termed neutral aminopeptidases, are essential to the parasite's survival in the host. In this proposal we will obtain the structure of these enzymes and bring forth novel lead compounds that will form the basis of a new class of anti-malaria treatment.