“Novel antitrypanosomal diaminoquinazoline analogues from repurposing the Medicines for Malaria Venture Open Access Pathogen Box library”
Country of Study
Cameroon
Institution
University of Yaoundé I
Expected Year of Completion
2025
Thematic Area
Agriculture and Food Security
Education
Darline is pursuing a PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Yaoundé I in Cameroon. She has an MSc in Biochemistry from the same university, and is expected to complete her PhD studies in 2025.
Research Summary
Darline’s research seeks untargeted and new pharmacological chemical scaffolds with a view to developing alternative therapies to control African trypanosomiasis or African Sleeping Sickness. The current antitrypanosomal drugs are associated with some limitations, including complexity of treatments, acute toxicity, limited therapeutic spectrum, poor pharmacokinetic profile and parasite drug resistance. Considering the limits of current treatment regimens, it’s clear that an ideal drug for the successful management of AAT or HAT is needed to address the gap. To contribute to the achievement of the WHO’s initiative toward eliminating the disease by 2030, Darline’s research has adopted a fast-track drug repurposing approach to determine the antitrypanosomal activity of the open access MMV Pathogen Box compound library. This led to the identification of two highly potent and non-toxic 2,4-diaminoquinazoline analogs, with interesting pharmacological activities. The two identified inhibitors of trypanosomes qualify as potential drug candidates that could be useful for future development as novel antitrypanosomal drugs.
Publications:
1. Preliminary Structure–Activity Relationship Study of the MMV Pathogen Box Compound MMV675968 (2,4-Diaminoquinazoline) Unveils Novel Inhibitors of Trypanosoma brucei brucei
2. In vitro antiplasmodial activity-directed investigation and UPLC-MS fingerprint of promising extracts and fractions from Terminalia ivorensis A. Chev. and Terminalia brownii Fresen
3. Implementation and continued validation of the malaria Plasmodium falciparum lactate dehydrogenase-based colorimetric assay for use in antiplasmodial drug screening
