Membrane transport proteins as therapeutic targets in malaria

Malaria is leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide; estimates of lost productivity in endemic countries are also a call to action. In light of acquired resistance to most antimalarial drugs and a worrying delayed clearance phenotype with artemisinins, the current mainstay of treatment, new drugs with novel mechanisms of action are critically needed. This chapter explores membrane transport proteins of malaria parasites as therapeutic targets. Computational analysis of malaria parasite genomes reveals a paucity of conventional transport proteins with homology to transporters in higher organisms. For each chosen transporter, one have reviewed the evidence for facilitated transmembrane transport, features that distinguish the parasite transporter from similar activities in other systems, reasons that the transporter may be a good drug target, and scientific uncertainties relevant to the drug-development process. Advances in parasite genomic, transfection, and biochemical technologies may be instrumental in translating these basic research findings into future antimalarial drugs.