{"id":833505,"date":"2025-03-12T12:12:58","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T17:12:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/12\/a-next-generation-malaria-drug-new-epigenetic-inhibitor-kills-the-deadliest-parasite\/"},"modified":"2025-03-12T12:12:58","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T17:12:58","slug":"a-next-generation-malaria-drug-new-epigenetic-inhibitor-kills-the-deadliest-parasite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/12\/a-next-generation-malaria-drug-new-epigenetic-inhibitor-kills-the-deadliest-parasite\/","title":{"rendered":"A Next-Generation Malaria Drug: New Epigenetic Inhibitor Kills the Deadliest Parasite"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Malaria<\/a>
Researchers discovered a gene-regulation inhibitor that selectively kills Plasmodium falciparum, offering a promising new antimalarial strategy. Their study highlights epigenetic targeting as a potential way to enhance treatments and fight drug resistance. Credit: SciTechDaily.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Epigenetic inhibitors: A promising new strategy for antimalarial treatment? A recent study discovers a gene regulation inhibitor that selectively eliminates the malaria parasite.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A multinational research team, led by Professor Markus Mei\u00dfner from LMU Munich and Professor Gernot L\u00e4ngst from the University of Regensburg, has made significant discoveries about gene regulation in Plasmodium falciparum, the primary cause of malaria. Their findings, published in Nature<\/em>, provide new avenues for developing advanced therapeutic strategies.<\/p>\n

Malaria remains a major global health challenge. In 2022 alone, an estimated 247 million people were infected, with over 600,000 deaths, the majority occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. These statistics highlight the urgent need for innovative research to drive progress in malaria prevention and treatment.<\/p>\n

Malaria is caused by parasites of the genus Plasmodium<\/em>, which is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected mosquitoes. Plasmodium falciparum<\/em>, the deadliest of the malaria species<\/div>\n

A species is a group of living organisms that share a set of common characteristics and are able to breed and produce fertile offspring. The concept of a species is important in biology as it is used to classify and organize the diversity of life. There are different ways to define a species, but the most widely accepted one is the biological species concept, which defines a species as a group of organisms that can interbreed and produce viable offspring in nature. This definition is widely used in evolutionary biology and ecology to identify and classify living organisms.<\/div>\n

” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>species<\/span>, has a highly complex life cycle controlled by precise gene regulation. Understanding these regulatory processes is crucial in order to specifically combat the pathogen at different stages of development.<\/p>\n

A Potential New Class of Antimalarial Drugs<\/h4>\n

The team identified the chromatin remodeler PfSnf2L (a protein complex that regulates the accessibility of DNA<\/div>\n

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is a molecule composed of two long strands of nucleotides that coil around each other to form a double helix. It is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms that carries genetic instructions for development, functioning, growth, and reproduction. Nearly every cell in a person\u2019s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA).<\/div>\n

” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>DNA<\/span> for transcription) as a key regulator of genes that play an important role in various stages of the pathogen\u2019s development. \u201cOur research shows that PfSnf2L is essential for P. falciparum<\/em> to dynamically adjust gene expression,\u201d explains Maria Theresia Watzlowik, lead author of the study.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe unique sequence and functional properties of PfSnf2L led to the identification of a highly specific inhibitor that only kills Plasmodium falciparum<\/em>,\u201d explains Gernot L\u00e4ngst, Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Regensburg. \u201cThis inhibitor represents a new class of antimalarials, potentially targeting all life cycle stages,\u201d adds Professor Markus Mei\u00dfner, Chair Professor of Experimental Parasitology at LMU\u2019s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.<\/p>\n

\u201cMalaria is one of the most adaptive diseases we face,\u201d observes L\u00e4ngst. Targeting its epigenetic regulation could pave the way for increasing the effectiveness of existing drugs, for example, or preventing the development of resistant parasites.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe study underscores the importance of integrating epigenetics into malaria research. Future work will focus on testing small molecules that inhibit the parasite\u2019s epigenetic machinery and exploring their effectiveness in preclinical models,\u201d concludes Mei\u00dfner.<\/p>\n

Reference: \u201cPlasmodium blood stage development requires the chromatin remodeller Snf2L\u201d by Maria Theresia Watzlowik, Elisabeth Silberhorn, Sujaan Das, Ritwik Singhal, Kannan Venugopal, Simon Holzinger, Barbara Stokes, Ella Schadt, Lauriane Sollelis, Victoria A. Bonnell, Matthew Gow, Andreas Klingl, Matthias Marti, Manuel Llin\u00e1s, Markus Meissner and Gernot L\u00e4ngst, 19 February 2025, Nature<\/i>.
\nDOI: 10.1038\/s41586-025-08595-x<\/a><\/p>\n

In addition to scientists from LMU and the University of Regensburg, researchers from the University of Zurich (Switzerland), Pennsylvania State University (United States), and the University of Glasgow<\/div>\n

Located in Glasgow, Scotland, the University of Glasgow is a public research university that was founded in 1451 making it the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world. As a research-intensive university, it is a member of the Russell Group, Universitas 21, and the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities. <\/div>\n

” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>University of Glasgow<\/span> (United Kingdom) were involved in the study, which was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\t\t\t Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
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Researchers discovered a gene-regulation inhibitor that selectively kills Plasmodium falciparum, offering a promising new antimalarial strategy. Their study highlights epigenetic targeting as a potential way to enhance treatments and fight drug resistance. Credit: SciTechDaily.com Epigenetic inhibitors: A promising new strategy for antimalarial treatment? A recent study discovers a gene regulation inhibitor that selectively eliminates the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":833506,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25914,23457],"tags":[9487,18640],"class_list":["post-833505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-malaria","category-next-generation","tag-malaria","tag-next-generation"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=833505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/833506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=833505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=833505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=833505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}