1. Academic Validation
  2. Novel Inhibitors of Plasmodium Phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase IIIβ with Low Propensity for Resistance: Life Cycle Stage Activity and In Vivo Efficacy in a Humanized Mouse Malaria Infection Model

Novel Inhibitors of Plasmodium Phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase IIIβ with Low Propensity for Resistance: Life Cycle Stage Activity and In Vivo Efficacy in a Humanized Mouse Malaria Infection Model

  • J Med Chem. 2025 Aug 28;68(16):17736-17751. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.5c01417.
Godwin A Dziwornu 1 Mmakwena M Mmonwa 2 Dina Coertzen 3 Liezl Krugmann 4 Nicolaas Salomane 4 Meta Leshabane 5 Jean Thomas 3 Shante da Rocha 3 Janette Reader 3 Keabetswe Masike 4 Mathew Njoroge 4 Nicole Sevilleno 5 Rachael Coyle 5 Nonlawat Boonyalai 6 Emily Mayville 7 8 Marcus C S Lee 5 6 David A Fidock 7 8 Lauren B Coulson 4 John G Woodland 1 9 Kathryn J Wicht 1 9 Sandeep R Ghorpade 1 Lyn-Marié Birkholtz 3 10 Kelly Chibale 1 9
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Holistic Drug Discovery and Development Centre (H3D), Department of Chemistry, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa.
  • 2 Department of Chemistry, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa.
  • 3 Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, Institute for Sustainable Malaria Control, University of Pretoria, Hatfield, Pretoria 0028, South Africa.
  • 4 Holistic Drug Discovery and Development Centre (H3D), Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Observatory, Cape Town 7925, South Africa.
  • 5 Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton CB10 1SA, U.K.
  • 6 Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, Wellcome Centre for Anti-Infectives Research, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 5EH, U.K.
  • 7 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Columbia University Medical Center, Hammer Health Sciences Center, 701 W. 168th Street, New York, New York 10032, United States.
  • 8 Center for Malaria Therapeutics and Antimicrobial Resistance, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York 10032, United States.
  • 9 South African Medical Research Council Drug Discovery and Development Research Unit, Department of Chemistry and Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa.
  • 10 Department of Biochemistry, Stellenbosch University, Matieland, Stellenbosch 7601, South Africa.
Abstract

Anticancer ATP-competitive inhibitors are a promising source of new starting points for antimalarial drug discovery. Herein, we present a novel antimalarial chemotype based on the Anticancer human ataxia-telangiectasia-mutated (ATM) kinase inhibitor AZD0156. This class inhibits phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase IIIβ (PI4K) in the human malaria Parasite Plasmodium, demonstrating remarkable activities against all stages of the Plasmodium falciparum life cycle. The current series exhibited a lower propensity for resistance and toxicity compared to previous Plasmodium PI4K inhibitors. The lead compound 18 was efficacious in a humanized NOD-scid IL-2Rγnull mouse model of P. falciparum malaria, with an ED90 value of 4.6 mg kg-1.

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