Targeting malaria protein kinases

Functional inactivation of Plasmodium falciparum glycogen synthase kinase GSK3 modulates erythrocyte invasion and blocks gametocyte maturation

“…The P. falciparum genome encodes for 65 eukaryotic protein kinases ( 22 ), of which various members have already been described to be involved in essential processes, including egress, host cell invasion, or gametocytogenesis ( 17 , 19 , 38 , 53 ). Nevertheless, to date, only one malaria targeting kinase inhibitor has reached the phase of clinical trials: the PI4K-inhibitor MMV390048 was shown to be safe and well tolerated with high antimalarial activity against all stages of the parasitic life cycle except hypnozoites.…”