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Exploration of Plasmodium Kinases
Author(s) -
Eubanks Amber L.,
Derbyshire Emily R.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.627.2
Subject(s) - kinome , druggability , malaria , plasmodium (life cycle) , biology , kinase , drug discovery , plasmodium falciparum , computational biology , parasite hosting , bioinformatics , immunology , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , gene , computer science , world wide web
Malaria is a neglected tropical disease that affects millions of people worldwide. The World Health Organization reported almost 600,000 deaths in 2013 alone, with most of these among children and pregnant women. Malaria is caused by protozoan parasites from the genus Plasmodium and is transmitted to human hosts through Anopheles mosquitoes. Eradication of this devastating disease is complicated by the complex life cycle of the parasite and increasing drug resistance to first‐line treatments. In order to combat Plasmodium infections and drug‐resistance, a deeper understanding of the parasite biology is required such that better therapeutic targets can be elucidated. Protein kinases are becoming increasingly popular as druggable targets in many diseases due to their essential function in eukaryotic organisms. Unfortunately relatively little is known about the malaria kinome. More than 3% of the Plasmodium parasite proteome is made up of kinases and offers a wide array of targets. The goal of our work is to biochemically characterize malaria protein kinases that are involved in key biosynthesis and signaling pathways. These efforts will allow further biological understanding of parasite biology while also providing potential therapeutic targets. Screening compounds against these kinases will also aid in the discovery of small molecule probes and antimalarial agents. Support or Funding Information NIH Duke University Chemistry Department