Objective
Malaria is one of the three major infectious diseases. Although the disease is prevalent in the tropics and subtropics it has caused a global emergency. 300-400 million cases with 1-2 million deaths per year and rapidly increasing resistance to antimalarial drugs call for focused novel strategies on combating malaria. Transport proteins for nutrients and metabolites of the minimal parasite/host interface are getting into the focus of the current search for novel antimalarial targets. MalariaPorin is an interdisciplinary project that wants to take genomic information to drug development. The chief goal is to decide on the question whether the Plasmodium water and glycerol channel, aquaglyceroporin, of the parasite/host interface is a suitable drug target for chemotherapy. Concurrently, the conditions for generating aquaglyceroporin inhibitory drugs are developed. To achieve these goals, a multidisciplinary approach is taken covering a) thorough studies on the physiological role of water and glycerol transport in the malaria parasite including the generation of deletion strains; b) establishment of robust and practical assay systems for compound testing based on Xenopus laevis oocytes, yeast and P. falciparum parasites; c) determination from field isolates of the occurrence and functional consequences of polymorphisms of the aquaglyceroporin gene; d) generation of protein structure models and elucidation of the 3D structure from protein crystallisation for solving mechanistic questions on the channel selectivity and for virtual drug design; e) design and synthesis of compound libraries based on the knowledge of other aquaporin blockers and biochemical studies of substrate specificity. It is envisioned that MalariaPorin may become the starting point for a wider strategy to assess the role of aquaporins in pathogenic parasites, such as Toxoplasma gondii and Trypanosoma brucei and cruzi, and their potential use as drug targets.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy drug discovery
- medical and health sciences health sciences infectious diseases malaria
- medical and health sciences basic medicine medicinal chemistry
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules lipids
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP6-2003-LIFESCIHEALTH-3
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Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
KIEL
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.