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KINARIS
has focused the drug development towards the
treatment of parasitic diseases caused by
Apicomplexa and Flagellata parasites. These
types of parasites are the well known causative
pathogens of Malaria, Toxoplasmosis, Coccidiosis
und Leishmaniosis.
Parasite invasion relies on the concerted action
of secretory adhesins, myosin motors, factors
regulating actin dynamics and proteases
contributed by the parasites.
Blocking the invasion pathway by inhibiting the
essential role of myosins in this process is a
promising and new approach to address these
diseases
KINARIS
has identified
a range of small molecule inhibitors and
activators of myosins as potential therapeutic
leads. The compounds belong to distinct chemical
classes.
Our approach takes advantage of the pronounced
structural difference between parasitic and host
myosin motors. A powerful combination of protein
structure determination, protein modeling,
rational drug design, and functional assays
assists the process developing highly specific
inhibitors of parasitic myosin function.
KINARIS
is supported by a strong and effective network
of experts in the fields of motor protein
research, synthetic chemistry, structural
biology, parasitology, zoology and cell biology.
This network is led by the founding members:
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Prof. Georgios Tsiavaliaris
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Prof. Dietmar J. Manstein
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Prof. Herwig Gutzeit
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