"Artificial Intelligence Could Stimulate Drug Discovery Against Malaria"

Researchers have developed a comprehensive malaria drug discovery system using next-generation artificial intelligence (AI).

Malaria is one of the world's oldest infectious diseases, which still causes many health problems. According to a study published in Scientific Reports

Insilico Medicine researchers believe that Plasmodium falciparum, the world's most dangerous human malaria parasite, could cause hundreds of millions of diseases and about half a million of deaths per year Taiwan.

Plasmodium falciparum causes malaria in humans by destroying human hemoglobin by falcipain-2 (FP2).

FP2 inhibitors block hemoglobin destruction and parasite development, suggesting that FP2 inhibition is a promising target of antimalarial treatment

The fight against malaria has been hampered by the growing resistance of malaria parasites to available drugs, they said. 02) New antimalarial drugs, ideally directed against new targets, are urgently needed.

To address this challenge, Insilico Taiwan researchers have extensively studied the mechanisms by which the E64 protease inhibitor approaches, interacts, and inhibits FP2. [19659002] The efficacy of E64, its mechanism of action and the potential for E64 derivatives to have low toxicity in humans confer on E64 and its derivatives potential candidate drug candidates for the treatment of diseases whose high levels of cysteine ​​proteases constitute a primary cause.

The results of the study showed that the binding of E64 and FP2 is facilitated by the FP2 amino acids located in and near the previously identified FP2 binding pocket.

This suggests that the antimalarial drug concept should not only focus on drug research. candidates who will be closely linked to the residues of the established binding pocket, but will also consider the need for the drug candidate to be able to bind to residues su

"Insilico Taiwan is pleased to present the work on malaria that could potentially save millions of lives, "said Artur Kadurin, CEO of Insilico Medicine Taiwan.

The results of the study confirm that E64 is able to inhibit FP2, and explains in detail the physicochemical factors of the interaction of E64 with FP2 as extremely favorable.