Chemical and genetic validation of thiamine utilization as an antimalarial drug target.

Thiamine is metabolized into an essential cofactor for several enzymes. Here we show that oxythiamine, a thiamine analog, inhibits proliferation of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum in vitro via a thiamine-related pathway and significantly reduces parasite growth in a mouse malaria model. Overexpression of thiamine pyrophosphokinase (the enzyme that converts thiamine into its active form, thiamine pyrophosphate) hypersensitizes parasites to oxythiamine by up to 1,700-fold, consistent with oxythiamine being a substrate for thiamine pyrophosphokinase and its conversion into an antimetabolite.

Inhibition of Plasmodium falciparum pH regulation by small molecule indole derivatives results in rapid parasite death.

The V-type H+ATPase is critical during the intraerythrocytic stage of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. It is responsible for maintaining a near-neutral cytosolic pH (pH 7.3), an acidic digestive vacuole (pH 4.