A novel fungal metabolite inhibits Plasmodium falciparum transmission and infection.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Malaria transmission depends on infected mosquitoes and can be controlled by transmission-blocking drugs. The recently discovered FREP1-mediated malaria transmission pathway is an excellent target to screen drugs for limiting transmission.

Methods

To identify candidate small molecules, we used an ELISA-based approach to analyze extracts from a fungal library for inhibition of the FREP1-parasite interaction. We isolated and determined one active compound by chromatography and crystallography, respectively. We measured the effects of the bioactive compound on malaria transmission to mosquitoes through standard membrane-feeding assays (SMFA) and on parasite proliferation in blood by culturing.

Results

We discovered the ethyl acetate extract of the fungus Purpu

SUBMITTER: Niu G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7992847 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature