Lien DOI – 10.5772/65659
Sergey Lunev, Fernando A. Batista, Soraya S. Bosch, Carsten Wrenger and Matthew R. Groves (November 30th 2016). Identification and Validation of Novel Drug Targets for the Treatment of Plasmodium falciparum Malaria: New Insights, Current Topics in Malaria, Alfonso J. Rodriguez-Morales, IntechOpen, DOI: 10.5772/65659. Available from: https://www.intechopen.com/books/current-topics-in-malaria/identification-and-validation-of-novel-drug-targets-for-the-treatment-of-plasmodium-falciparum-malar
In order to counter the malarial parasite’s striking ability to rapidly develop drug resistance, a constant supply of novel antimalarial drugs and potential drug targets must be available. The so-called Harlow-Knapp effect, or “searching under the lamp post,” in which scientists tend to further explore only the areas that are already well illuminated, significantly limits the availability of novel drugs and drug targets. This chapter summarizes the pool of electron transport chain (ETC) and carbon metabolism antimalarial targets that have been “under the lamp post” in recent years, as well as suggest a promising new avenue for the validation of novel drug targets. The interplay between the pathways crucial for the parasite, such as pyrimidine biosynthesis, aspartate metabolism, and mitochondrial tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, is described in order to create a “road map” of novel antimalarial avenues.