Computational Workflow to Design Novel Vaccine Candidates and Small-Molecule Therapeutics for Schistosomiasis.

Human schistosomiasis, caused by the trematode, is a neglected parasitic disease affecting over 250 million people worldwide. There is no vaccine, and the single available drug is threatened by drug resistance. This study presents a computational approach to designing multiepitope vaccines (MEVs) targeting the cercarial (CMEV) and schistosomular (SMEV) stages of schistosomes, and identifies potential schistosomicidal compounds from the Medicine for Malaria Ventures (MMV) and SuperNatural Database (SND) libraries.

Human schistosomiasis in Nigeria: present status, diagnosis, chemotherapy, and herbal medicines.

Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by a parasitic, trematode blood fluke of the genus Schistosoma. With 20 million people infected, mostly due to Schistosoma haematobium, Nigeria has the highest burden of schistosomiasis in the world. We review the status of human schistosomiasis in Nigeria regarding its distribution, prevalence, diagnosis, prevention, orthodox and traditional treatments, as well as snail control strategies.

Structure-based discovery of thiosemicarbazones as SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitors.

Discovery of novel SARS-CoV-2 main protease (M) inhibitors using a structure-based drug discovery strategy. Virtual screening employing covalent and noncovalent docking was performed to discover M inhibitors, which were subsequently evaluated in biochemical and cellular assays. 91 virtual hits were selected for biochemical assays, and four were confirmed as reversible inhibitors of SARS CoV-2 M with IC values of 0.

Discovery of pyrazolopyrrolidinones as potent, broad-spectrum inhibitors of infection.

Introduction: Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease that affects more than 1 million people worldwide annually, predominantly in resource-limited settings. The challenge in compound development is to exhibit potent activity against the intracellular stage of the parasite (the stage present in the mammalian host) without harming the infected host cells. We have identified a compound series (pyrazolopyrrolidinones) active against the intracellular parasites of and ; the causative agents of visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Old World, respectively.