Antiparasitic agents articles from across Nature Portfolio

Malaria cases and deaths remain unacceptably high and are resurgent in several settings, though recent developments inspire optimism. This includes the approval of the world’s first malaria vaccine and results from novel vaccine candidates and trials testing innovative combinatorial interventions.

A recent study finds that upregulation of nutrient-permeable channels in the parasitophorous vacuole membrane increases the acquisition of amino acids by artemisinin-resistant parasites to compensate for fitness costs.

Researchers show that Plasmodium falciparum glutamic-acid-rich protein (PfGARP), a 80 kDa antigen expressed on the surface of P. falciparum-infected erythrocytes, is a malaria vaccine candidate for specifically targeting the blood stage of this parasite.

Resistance to the current first-line antimalarials threatens the control of malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum and underscores the urgent need for new drugs with novel modes of action. Small-Saunders, Hagenah and Fidock present the argument that the parasite’s chloroquine resistance transporter (PfCRT) constitutes a promising target to combat multidrug-resistant malaria.

A large screen for antimalarial drugs identified protease inhibitors that target three stages of the malaria parasite.

A recent study uncovers the molecular mechanism of artemisinin resistance in the most lethal human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum.