This family encompasses antimalarial targets identified and validated in Plasmodium, the genus of protozoan parasite known to cause malaria. The genome of P. falciparum, the species that is responsible for the majority of malaria-related deaths, has been sequenced and analysed contributing to an increased understanding of potential biological targets in the parasite. More than half of the predicted gene products exhibit little homology outside the Plasmodium genus and have not been given functional assignments, while a considerable number are unique to P. falciparum [3]. In recent years, genetic methods have facilitated the identification of new molecular targets in the parasite and it is hoped that novel cross-lifecycle targets will be elucidated to help inform antimalarial drug discovery [1-2].

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* Key recommended reading is highlighted with an asterisk

Andrews KA, Wesche D, McCarthy J, Möhrle JJ, Tarning J, Phillips L, Kern S, Grasela T. (2018) Model-Informed Drug Development for Malaria Therapeutics. Annu Rev Pharmacol Toxicol, 58: 567-582. [PMID:28992431]

Chaparro MJ, Calderón F, Castañeda P, Fernández-Alvaro E, Gabarró R, Gamo FJ, Gómez-Lorenzo MG, Martín J, Fernández E. (2018) Efforts Aimed To Reduce Attrition in Antimalarial Drug Discovery: A Systematic Evaluation of the Current Antimalarial Targets Portfolio. ACS Infect Dis, 4 (4): 568-576. [PMID:29320160]

Forte B, Ottilie S, Plater A, Campo B, Dechering KJ, Gamo FJ, Goldberg DE, Istvan ES, Lee M, Lukens AK et al.. (2021) Prioritization of Molecular Targets for Antimalarial Drug Discovery. ACS Infect Dis, 7 (10): 2764-2776. [PMID:34523908]

Manickam Y, Chaturvedi R, Babbar P, Malhotra N, Jain V, Sharma A. (2018) Drug targeting of one or more aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Drug Discov Today, 23 (6): 1233-1240. [PMID:29408369]

Okombo J, Chibale K. (2016) Antiplasmodial drug targets: a patent review (2000 - 2013). Expert Opin Ther Pat, 26 (1): 107-30. [PMID:26566576]

Yang T, Ottilie S, Istvan ES, Godinez-Macias KP, Lukens AK, Baragaña B, Campo B, Walpole C, Niles JC, Chibale K et al.. (2021) MalDA, Accelerating Malaria Drug Discovery. Trends Parasitol, 37 (6): 493-507. [PMID:33648890]

1. Armstrong JF, Campo B, Alexander SPH, Arendse LB, Cheng X, Davenport AP, Faccenda E, Fidock DA, Godinez-Macias KP, Harding SD et al.. (2023) Advances in malaria pharmacology and the online guide to MALARIA PHARMACOLOGY: IUPHAR review 38. Br J Pharmacol, 180 (15): 1899-1929. [PMID:37197802]

2. Flannery EL, Fidock DA, Winzeler EA. (2013) Using genetic methods to define the targets of compounds with antimalarial activity. J Med Chem, 56 (20): 7761-71. [PMID:23927658]

3. Gardner MJ, Hall N, Fung E, White O, Berriman M, Hyman RW, Carlton JM, Pain A, Nelson KE, Bowman S et al.. (2002) Genome sequence of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Nature, 419 (6906): 498-511. [PMID:12368864]