Aussie researchers make "important step" toward defeating malaria

Australian scientists have made a significant breakthrough in tackling malaria, one of the world's deadliest diseases.

Research led by the University of Melbourne, in conjunction with Stanford University and the University of Cambridge, has discovered compounds which can target the parasite present in the mosquito-borne virus.

Professor Leann Tilley, who led the University of Melbourne's contribution to the research, said the compound attacks the proteasome, the malaria parasite's waste disposal system.

"The parasite's proteasome is like a shredder that chews up damaged or used-up proteins. Malaria parasites generate a lot of damaged proteins as they switch from one life stage to another and are very reliant on their proteasome, making it an excellent drug target," Tilley said on Thursday.

The research, detailed in the latest edition of scientific journal Nature, used a purified proteasome to examine its activity against hundreds of peptides - then using those observations to create inhibitors that block the activity of the proteasome without affecting human functions.

The protein, which as yet has no name, was then synthesized at Cambridge and has proved to be effective against the most resistant strains of malaria, found in Thailand and Cambodia, in trials thus far.

The current treatment for malaria is a combination of two artemisinin drugs which have previously worked but have become increasingly ineffective as the virus has developed resistance to the drugs.

Malaria is most prominent in tropical and sub-tropical regions, due to ideal climates for the mosquitoes that transmit the disease, such as Sub-Saharan Africa, where 90 percent of all malaria deaths occur, Asia and South America.

The virus kills up to 500,000 people every year, with 78 percent of the victims being children under the age of five.

Professor Tilley says she hoped to deliver an effective and cheap malaria "wonder drug" due to many effected regions being Third World countries.

"We're looking for something that's cheap to make, orally available and effective with no toxicity against humans," Tilley said.

"We'll still be a couple of years away from being able to test efficacy in humans but I'm confident we will get there." Endite