Targeting the redox metabolism of Plasmodium falciparum

Future Med Chem. 2013 Oct;5(16):1993-2006. doi: 10.4155/fmc.13.159.

Abstract

Targeting the redox metabolism of Plasmodium falciparum to create a fatal overload of oxidative stress is a route to explore the discovery of new antimalarial drugs. There are three main possibilities to target the redox metabolism of P. falciparum at the erythrocytic stage: selective targeting and inhibition of a redox P. falciparum protein or enzyme; oxidant drugs targeting essential parasite components and heme by-products; and redox cycler drugs targeting the parasitized red blood cell. Oxidants and redox cycler agents, with or without specific targets, may disrupt the fragile parasitized erythrocyte redox-dependent architecture given that: redox equilibrium plays a vital role at the erythrocytic stage; P. falciparum possesses major NADPH-dependent redox systems, such as glutathione and thioredoxin ones; and the protein-NADPH-dependent phosphorylation-dephosphorylation process is involved in building new permeation pathways and channels for the nutrient-waste import-export traffic of the parasite.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Antimalarials / chemistry
  • Antimalarials / pharmacology
  • Erythrocytes / metabolism
  • Erythrocytes / parasitology
  • Humans
  • Naphthoquinones / chemistry
  • Naphthoquinones / pharmacology
  • Oxidative Stress / drug effects
  • Oxidoreductases / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Oxidoreductases / metabolism
  • Plasmodium falciparum / drug effects
  • Plasmodium falciparum / metabolism*
  • Protozoan Proteins / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Protozoan Proteins / metabolism

Substances

  • Antimalarials
  • Naphthoquinones
  • Protozoan Proteins
  • Oxidoreductases
  • 1,4-naphthoquinone