Drug search revs up for parasite control

Nearly 12 years of research have been drawn together through a Murdoch-based GlaxoSmithKline Centre of Excellence, based in the Division of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, to find new drugs to fight Giardia, Cryptosporidium, Malaria and sleeping sickness.

Professor Andrew Thompson, Head of the WA Biomedical Research Institute's Murdoch node at the Centre for the Biomolecular Control of Disease (CBCD), said the project started with the discovery of a group of drugs that were effective against the parasite Giardia.

"Most molecular efforts so far have focused on finding drugs that affect single-celled organisms like Giardia," said Professor Thompson.

"We are taking the research a step further to examine worm parasites, which have been developing resistance to current drugs."

Funded by GlaxoSmithKline, the Murdoch researchers are collaborating closely with the Chemistry Centre and the University of WA.

"Murdoch has some of the best capabilities in the world to keep parasites in culture and our collaborators are working on the drug development side," said Professor Thompson.

"Dr Wayne Best from the Chemistry Centre is synthesising new compounds, which are being tested by the World Health organization accredited Swiss Tropical Institute in Basel.

"Drs Matt and Jackie Wilce from UWA are analyzing the protein structure of the drug targets in the parasites to discover how the drugs bind to the parasites, and we can use this information to discover why and how the drugs act and optimise their activity.

"We have also recently been joined by nematode molecular geneticist Dr Andy Mounsey, which will give us the ability to better understand nematode parasite genetic material to make more tailored drugs.

"We have a number of compounds that are looking very promising at the moment, but our next job is to discover whether the compounds are toxic to the hosts of the parasites."

The team, which includes Professor Jim Reynoldson and Drs Anthony Armson and Simon Reid, is working closely with the Trypanosomiasis Research Institute in Kenya through a recently awarded linkage grant.