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2-Octadecynoic acid as a dual life stage inhibitor of Plasmodium infections and plasmodial FAS-II enzymes
JournalArticle (Originalarbeit in einer wissenschaftlichen Zeitschrift)
ID
2698799
Author(s)
Carballeira, Néstor M; Bwalya, Angela Gono; Itoe, Maurice Ayamba; Andricopulo, Adriano D; Cordero-Maldonado, María Lorena; Kaiser, Marcel; Mota, Maria M; Crawford, Alexander D; Guido, Rafael V C; Tasdemir, Deniz
2-Octadecynoic acid as a dual life stage inhibitor of Plasmodium infections and plasmodial FAS-II enzymes
Journal
Bioorganic & medicinal chemistry letters
Volume
24
Number
17
Pages / Article-Number
4151-7
Keywords
Acetylenic fatty acids, Blood stage, Liver stage, Malaria, 2-Octadecynoic acid, Plasmodium, Type II fatty acid synthase
Abstract
The malaria parasite Plasmodium goes through two life stages in the human host, a non-symptomatic liver stage (LS) followed by a blood stage with all clinical manifestation of the disease. In this study, we investigated a series of 2-alkynoic fatty acids (2-AFAs) with chain lengths between 14 and 18 carbon atoms for dual in vitro activity against both life stages. 2-Octadecynoic acid (2-ODA) was identified as the best inhibitor of Plasmodium berghei parasites with ten times higher potency (IC50=0.34μg/ml) than the control drug. In target determination studies, the same compound inhibited three Plasmodium falciparum FAS-II (PfFAS-II) elongation enzymes PfFabI, PfFabZ, and PfFabG with the lowest IC50 values (0.28-0.80μg/ml, respectively). Molecular modeling studies provided insights into the molecular aspects underlying the inhibitory activity of this series of 2-AFAs and a likely explanation for the considerably different inhibition potentials. Blood stages of P. falciparum followed a similar trend where 2-ODA emerged as the most active compound, with 20 times less potency. The general toxicity and hepatotoxicity of 2-AFAs were evaluated by in vitro and in vivo methods in mammalian cell lines and zebrafish models, respectively. This study identifies 2-ODA as the most promising antiparasitic 2-AFA, particularly towards P. berghei parasites.