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Full-Text Articles in Immunology and Infectious Disease

Mutation In The Plasmodium Falciparum Crt Protein Determines The Stereospecific Activity Of Antimalarial Cinchona Alkaloids, Carol E. Griffin, Jonathan M. Hoke, Upeka Samarakoon, Junhui Duan, Jianbing Mu, Michael T. Ferdig, David C. Warhurst, Roland Cooper Oct 2015

Mutation In The Plasmodium Falciparum Crt Protein Determines The Stereospecific Activity Of Antimalarial Cinchona Alkaloids, Carol E. Griffin, Jonathan M. Hoke, Upeka Samarakoon, Junhui Duan, Jianbing Mu, Michael T. Ferdig, David C. Warhurst, Roland Cooper

Roland A. Cooper

The Cinchona alkaloids are quinoline aminoalcohols that occur as diastereomer pairs, typified by (-)-quinine and (+)-quinidine. The potency of (+)-isomers is greater than the (-)-isomers in vitro and in vivo against Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites. They may act by the inhibition of heme crystallization within the parasite digestive vacuole in a manner similar to chloroquine. Earlier studies showed that a K76I mutation in the digestive vacuole-associated protein, PfCRT (P. falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter), reversed the normal potency order of quinine and quinidine toward P. falciparum. To further explore PfCRT-alkaloid interactions in the malaria parasite, we measured the in vitro susceptibility …


Accumulation Of Artemisinin Trioxane Derivatives Within Neutral Lipids Of Plasmodium Falciparum Malaria Parasites Is Endoperoxide-Dependent, Carmony L. Hartwig, Andrew S. Rosenthal, John D'Angelo, Carol E. Griffin, Gary H. Posner, Roland A. Cooper Oct 2015

Accumulation Of Artemisinin Trioxane Derivatives Within Neutral Lipids Of Plasmodium Falciparum Malaria Parasites Is Endoperoxide-Dependent, Carmony L. Hartwig, Andrew S. Rosenthal, John D'Angelo, Carol E. Griffin, Gary H. Posner, Roland A. Cooper

Roland A. Cooper

The antimalarial trioxanes, exemplified by the naturally occurring sesquiterpene lactone artemisinin and its semi-synthetic derivatives, contain an endoperoxide pharmacophore that lends tremendous potency against Plasmodium parasites. Despite decades of research, their mechanism of action remains unresolved. A leading model of anti-plasmodial activity hypothesizes that iron-mediated cleavage of the endoperoxide bridge generates cytotoxic drug metabolites capable of damaging cellular macromolecules. To probe the malarial targets of the endoperoxide drugs, we studied the distribution of fluorescent dansyl trioxane derivatives in living, intraerythrocytic-stage Plasmodium falciparum parasites using microscopic imaging. The fluorescent trioxanes rapidly accumulated in parasitized erythrocytes, localizing within digestive vacuole-associated neutral lipid …


Genome-Wide Compensatory Changes Accompany Drugselected Mutations In The Plasmodium Falciparum Crt Gene, Hongying Jiang, Jigar J. Patel, Ming Yi, Jianbing Mu, Jinhui Ding, Robert Stephens, Roland Cooper, Michael T. Ferdig, Xin-Zhuan Su Oct 2015

Genome-Wide Compensatory Changes Accompany Drugselected Mutations In The Plasmodium Falciparum Crt Gene, Hongying Jiang, Jigar J. Patel, Ming Yi, Jianbing Mu, Jinhui Ding, Robert Stephens, Roland Cooper, Michael T. Ferdig, Xin-Zhuan Su

Roland A. Cooper

Mutations in PfCRT (Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine-resistant transporter), particularly the substitution at amino acid position 76, confer chloroquine (CQ) resistance in P. falciparum. Point mutations in the homolog of the mammalian multidrug resistance gene (pfmdr1) can also modulate the levels of CQ response. Moreover, parasites with the same pfcrt and pfmdr1 alleles exhibit a wide range of drug sensitivity, suggesting that additional genes contribute to levels of CQ resistance (CQR). Reemergence of CQ sensitive parasites after cessation of CQ use indicates that changes in PfCRT are deleterious to the parasite. Some CQR parasites, however, persist in the field and grow well …


Design, Synthesis, And Evaluation Of 10-N-Substituted Acridones As Novel Chemosensitizers In Plasmodium Falciparum, Jane X. Kelly, Martin J. Smilkstein, Roland A. Cooper, Kristin D. Lane, Robert A. Johnson, Aaron Janowsky, Rozalia A. Dodean, Rolf Winter, Michael Riscoe Oct 2015

Design, Synthesis, And Evaluation Of 10-N-Substituted Acridones As Novel Chemosensitizers In Plasmodium Falciparum, Jane X. Kelly, Martin J. Smilkstein, Roland A. Cooper, Kristin D. Lane, Robert A. Johnson, Aaron Janowsky, Rozalia A. Dodean, Rolf Winter, Michael Riscoe

Roland A. Cooper

A series of novel 10-N-substituted acridones, bearing alkyl side chains with tertiary amine groups at the terminal position, were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for the ability to enhance the potency of quinoline drugs against multidrug-resistant (MDR) Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites. A number of acridone derivatives, with side chains bridged three or more carbon atoms apart between the ring nitrogen and terminal nitrogen, demonstrated chloroquine (CQ)-chemosensitizing activity against the MDR strain of P. falciparum (Dd2). Isobologram analysis revealed that selected candidates demonstrated significant synergy with CQ in the CQ-resistant (CQR) parasite Dd2 but only additive (or indifferent) interaction in the CQ-sensitive …


Molecular And Morphometric Evidence For Separate Species Of Uncinaria (Nematoda: Ancylostomatidae) In California Sea Lions And Northern Fur Seals: Hypothesis Testing Supplants Verification, Steven A. Nadler, Byron J. Adams, Eugene T. Lyons, Robert L. Delong, Sharon R. Melin Sep 2015

Molecular And Morphometric Evidence For Separate Species Of Uncinaria (Nematoda: Ancylostomatidae) In California Sea Lions And Northern Fur Seals: Hypothesis Testing Supplants Verification, Steven A. Nadler, Byron J. Adams, Eugene T. Lyons, Robert L. Delong, Sharon R. Melin

Byron Adams

California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) and northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) are each believed to host distinct hookworm species (Uncinaria spp.). However, a recent morphometric analysis suggested that a single species parasitizes multiple pinniped hosts, and that the observed differences are host-induced. To explore the systematics of these hookworms and test these competing hypotheses, we obtained nucleotide sequences of nuclear ribosomal DNA (D2/D3 28S, D18/D19 28S, and internal transcribed spacer [ITS] regions) from 20 individual hookworms parasitizing California sea lion and northern fur seal pups where their breeding grounds are sympatric. Five individuals from an allopatric population of California sea …


Human Sewage Identified As Likely Source Of White Pox Disease Of The Threatened Caribbean Elkhorn Coral, Kathryn Sutherland, James Porter, Jeffrey Turner, Brian Thomas, Erin Looney, Trevor Luna, Meredith Meyers, J. Futch, Erin Lipp Jun 2015

Human Sewage Identified As Likely Source Of White Pox Disease Of The Threatened Caribbean Elkhorn Coral, Kathryn Sutherland, James Porter, Jeffrey Turner, Brian Thomas, Erin Looney, Trevor Luna, Meredith Meyers, J. Futch, Erin Lipp

Kathryn Patterson Sutherland PhD

Caribbean elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata, has been decimated in recent years, resulting in the listing of this species as threatened under the United States Endangered Species Act. A major contributing factor in the decline of this iconic species is white pox disease. In 2002, we identified the faecal enterobacterium, Serratia marcescens, as an etiological agent for white pox. During outbreaks in 2003 a unique strain of S. marcescens was identified in both human sewage and white pox lesions. This strain (PDR60) was also identified from corallivorious snails (Coralliophila abbreviata), reef water, and two non-acroporid coral species, Siderastrea siderea and Solenastrea …