REQUEST FOR COLLABORATORS
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POSTED: May 14,
2010
Dr. Asikiya Walcourt of Howard University is searching for a
collaborator at another RCMI institution to partner on a project
to submit for the RTRN Small Grants Program. Any researcher
with interest should contact Dr. Walcourt immediately to
collaborate on the submission of the Letter of Intent for the
RTRN Small Grant Application.
The project abstract is provided below:
Abstract
The morbidity and mortality associated with malaria have spurred
efforts to find novel antimalarial agents with improved potency
and selectivity. Leads for agents continue to be obtained from
natural sources (plants and microorganisms) and chemical
syntheses. The structural diversity of compounds with good (micromolar
and lower) activity point to the considerable tolerance for
different structural elements in the antimalarial pharmacophore
. It may also be a reflection of the varied targets present in
the plasmodia. The challenge in malaria chemotherapy is to find
safe and selective agents whose potencies will not be
compromised by plasmodial resistance. Modification of potential
leads should also aim at improving drug-like character, viz. to
ensure acceptable oral bioavailability. A review of the
literature shows that the 1,4-naphthoquinone ring has not only
received attention as a pharmacophore for the design of
antitumor-, but also antimalarial- agents. As a part of our
anti-cancer drug discovery program we demonstrated that the
imido-substituted 2-chloro-1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives were
potent antitumor agents against prostate cancer cell lines. In
the urgent search to design and develop antimalarial agents that
are safer, more effective, and more affordable and also capable
of reversing plasmodial resistance, we seek funds to use the
imido-substituted 2-chloro-1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives as
potential tools in this endeavor. Antimalaria screening of
compounds will be done using malaria SYBR Green I-based
fluorescent (MSF) in vitro assay to quantify parasite growth
within parasitized erythrocytes. Results from this study will
provide data leading to application for external funding.
If you are interested in collaborating on this project for the
RTRN Small Grants Program, please contact:
Asikiya Walcourt, Ph.D.
Department of Physiology & Biophysics
Howard University College of Medicine
520 W Street Mudd Blg, 4th Floor-Rm 413
Washington DC, 20059
Telephone: 202-806-9700
Email: awalcourt@howard.edu
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