Abstract
Neglected tropical diseases affect more than one billion people, mainly in the world’s poorest regions. In 2019, almost 236.6 million people required treatment of schistosomiasis, a chronic disease caused by parasitic worms. Praziquantel is the only available treatment option to date – an alarming situation as drug resistance could emerge. We propose to address SmSTK25, a serine-threonine kinase that was recently identified as a potential drug target. Using a fragment-based drug discovery approach and iterative cycles of synthetic chemistry, modelling, structural biology, biophysical techniques, and in vitro kinase assays, we will develop inorganic/organometallic inhibitors of SmSTK25 as promising new drug candidates.
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