How does artemisinin work

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Log in here. Already an ACS Member? Choose the membership that is right for you. Discount will be applied automatically at checkout. Your account has been created successfully, and a confirmation email is on the way. Credit: Nat. An alkyne-labeled artemisinin analog red sphere binds to proteins in the malaria parasite.

First isolated in the s, artemisinin is an effective drug against malaria, but questions remain about how it works. After incubating the probe with live malaria parasites and attaching biotin to its alkyne tag, the team fished out all the proteins to which artemisinin binds. The researchers did this by incubating the mixture with streptavidin-labeled beads that strongly attract biotin.

They then identified the purified proteins with mass spectrometry. The researchers were unsurprised to find that the probe bound to a whopping different proteins.

The fact that the drug has developed only low-level resistance after decades of extensive use bolsters this idea, too. Agents Chemother. In other experiments, the Singapore team also found that artemisinin needs heme, an iron-containing component of the red blood protein hemoglobin, to be activated. At different stages of the parasite life cycle, the heme comes from different sources. At later stages in red blood cells, the heme comes from digested hemoglobin. Contact us to opt out anytime.

Ross, a postdoc studying malaria drug resistance in David A. This article has been translated into Spanish by Divulgame. Contact the reporter. Submit a Letter to the Editor for publication.

Engage with us on Twitter. The power is now in your nitrile gloved hands Sign up for a free account to increase your articles. Plasmodium parasite infecting a red blood cell. Researchers say they have gained a better understanding of how the antimalarial drug artemisinin kills the Plasmodium falciparum parasite.

A chemical proteomics analysis revealed more than protein targets of artemisinin and the mechanism that activates its killing effect.

Given the emergence of artemisinin resistance, the team believes their findings could aid the design of new treatments against drug-resistant parasites. They reported the findings in Nature Communications. Previously, only 2 targets of artemisinin had been identified, and their correlation with the parasite-killing effect of the drug had been questioned.