Plasmepsins as antimalarial targets.
Since aspartic proteinases fulfil a crucial role in malarial parasite nutrition by mediating the degradation of host proteins, they have become targets for the production of new antimalarial agents. Two proteinases, plasmepsin I and plasmepsin II, have been well characterized, but whilst some progress has been made towards the production of plasmepsin inhibitors, selectivity remains a problem. The most deadly malarial parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, encodes at least two other aspartic proteinases (plasmepsin III and IV) and a related histo-aspartic protein. Since the sequences of plasmepsin III and the histo-aspartic protein are considerably different from those of human aspartic proteinases, they may be better potential targets for drug design.
Berry
C
C
Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, PO Box 911, Museum Avenue, Cardiff ,CF10 3US, Wales, UK. Berry@cf.ac.uk