Breakthrough in malaria could help speed up the discovery of Covid-19 treatments, scientists claim
- Drugs primarily target the disease-causing pathogen in treatment
- But researchers found important enzymes in human red blood cells that are involved
- It is hoped that targeting these proteins may help treat malaria
- Researchers also believe the same pathway could be used to speed up the process of finding a treatment for Covid-19
Scientists have made an important discovery in the fight against malaria, allowing medicines to be re-treated quickly to treat a range of diseases, including Covid-19.
Academics from RMIT University in Australia found enzymes made by human cells to be awakened after infection.
The same enzymes triggered by a malaria parasite were also activated in cancer cells, indicating that they may play a central role in controlling human disease.
Targeting this, instead of the invasive pathogen itself, could allow a host of new treatments to be created, the researchers say.
It would also allow scientists to take existing medicines and adapt them to find a cure for new and emerging diseases.
This is exactly what Australian academics are now aiming to do for Covid-19, and have received government funding to find out if it is possible.
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Topical medications for malaria target the parasite itself, but academics from RMIT University in Australia found infection often requires enzymes in the host’s red blood cells. Pictured, data on antibody arrays showing activation of kinases in human red blood cells infected with the malaria parasite
Dr Jack Adderley from RMIT University in Melbourne was the first to identify which host enzymes were activated by the malaria parasite infection.
“This approach has the potential to significantly reduce costs and accelerate the deployment of new and urgent antimalarials,” he said.
The study also found that the enzymes that are triggered by malaria infection are often the same ones that are activated in cancer cells.
“We can now jump on the back of the existing discovery of cancer drugs and look at a reorientation of a medication that is already available or nearing completion of the drug development process,” he says.
Dr Jack Adderley from RMIT University in Melbourne found which host enzymes were activated by the malaria parasite infection. “This approach has the potential to significantly reduce costs and accelerate the deployment of new and urgent antimalarials,” he said.
The research team will now work with the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity to investigate potential COVID-19 treatments using the same approach.
Funding has been provided to the venture by the Victorian Medical Research Fund in collaboration with the Bio Capital Impact Fund (BCIF).
Dr. Julian Druce of the Doherty Institute will be involved in the project and was part of the team that first studied SARS-CoV-1, the virus that causes Covid-19, in detail.
He called the finding of malaria and its consequences for the treatment of Covid-19 an important contribution to efforts to defeat the pandemic.
Professor Peter Revill, Royal Medical Hospital, senior medical scientist at the Doherty Institute, said the malaria discovery was really exciting.
“This has been successfully proven for other human pathogens, including malaria and hepatitis C virus, and there are now very real prospects to use it to discover new drug targets for hepatitis B and COVID-19,” he said.
By targeting the human enzymes and not the pathogen specifically, this route of treatment could help combat drug resistance.
‘We risk going back to the pre-antibiotic era if we do not solve this resistance problem, which is a clear and present danger to global public health. We need innovative ways to tackle this problem, ‘said Dr Christopher Doerig, Associate Dean for the Biomedical Sciences Cluster at RMIT.
‘By targeting the host and not the pathogen itself, we eliminate the possibility for the pathogen to become rapidly resistant by mutating the target of the drug, because the target is created by the human host, not the pathogen. . ‘
The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.
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