Development of an innovative large-scale high-speed compound screening method for the development of antimalarial drugs that target malaria parasite autophagy

The malaria parasite autophagy-related factor ATG8 is a promising drug target because it is essential for the survival of the parasite. This study will first reconstruct the lipidation (maturation) reaction of protozoan ATG8 in vitro and screen inhibitors based on this, aiming to identify compounds that inhibit ATG8 lipidation. After synthesizing ATG proteins related to ATG8 lipidation in a wheat cell-free system, a protozoan ATG8 lipidation reaction system will be established in vitro. In order to identify inhibitors for this reconstituted protozoan ATG8 lipidation system, a large-scale screening of the compound library will be performed by the AlphaScreen method. In this way, compounds that inhibit the function of ATG8 will be listed, which is essential for the survival of parasites, and malaria parasite growth inhibition tests will be carried out using those compounds, aiming to identify the seeds of novel antimalarial drugs.

Product Development

Apr 2022 — Mar 2023

Japan