title: Mechanically produced schistosomula as a higher-throughput tools for phenotypic pre-screening in drug sensitivity assays: current research and future trends.
abstract: It is crucial to develop new antischistosomal drugs since there is no vaccine and the whole world is relying on only a single drug for the treatment of schistosomiasis. One of the obstacles to the development of drugs is the absence of the high throughput objective screening methods to assess drug compounds efficacy. Thus for identification of new drug compounds candidates, fast and accurate in vitro assays are unavoidable and more research efforts in the field of drug discovery can target schistosomula. This review presents a substantial overview of the present state of in vitro drug sensitivity assays developed so far for the determination of anti-schistosomula activity of drug compounds, natural products and derivatives using newly transformed schistosomula (NTS). It highlights some of the challenges involved in in vitro compound screening using NTS and the way forward.
authors.affiliation: Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, PO Box LG581 Legon, Accra, Ghana ; Laboratory for Tuberculosis Research and Pharmacology, Biotechnology Centre, Nkolbisson, University of Yaoundé 1, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Emmanuel Mouafo
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Tekwu
authors.affiliation: Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, PO Box LG581 Legon, Accra, Ghana.
authors.forename: William Kofi
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Anyan
authors.affiliation: Centre for Plant Medicine Research (CPMR), Akwapim, Mampong, Ghana.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Boamah
authors.affiliation: Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, PO Box LG581 Legon, Accra, Ghana.
authors.forename: Kofi Owusu
authors.initials: KO
authors.lastname: Baffour-Awuah
authors.affiliation: Yaounde Emergency Centre (CURY), Yaoundé, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Keyetat Tekwu
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Tuberculosis Research and Pharmacology, Biotechnology Centre, Nkolbisson, University of Yaoundé 1, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Veronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Penlap Beng
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, College of Health sciences, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
authors.forename: Alexander Kwadwo
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Nyarko
authors.affiliation: Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, PO Box LG581 Legon, Accra, Ghana.
authors.forename: Kwabena Mante
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Bosompem
keywords: Drug discovery; In vitro drug sensitivity; Mechanical transformation; Newly Transformed Schistosomula; Schistosomiasis