An Overview on Target-Based Drug Design against Kinetoplastid Protozoan Infections: Human African Trypanosomiasis, Chagas Disease and Leishmaniases
Violeta Kourbeli,
Eleni Chontzopoulou,
Kalliopi Moschovou,
Dimitrios Pavlos,
Thomas Mavromoustakos,
Ioannis P. Papanastasiou
Affiliations
Violeta Kourbeli
Department of Pharmacy, Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli-Zografou, 157 84 Athens, Greece
Eleni Chontzopoulou
Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli-Zografou, 157 71 Athens, Greece
Kalliopi Moschovou
Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli-Zografou, 157 71 Athens, Greece
Dimitrios Pavlos
Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli-Zografou, 157 71 Athens, Greece
Thomas Mavromoustakos
Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli-Zografou, 157 71 Athens, Greece
Ioannis P. Papanastasiou
Department of Pharmacy, Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli-Zografou, 157 84 Athens, Greece
The protozoan diseases Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT), Chagas disease (CD), and leishmaniases span worldwide and therefore their impact is a universal concern. The present regimen against kinetoplastid protozoan infections is poor and insufficient. Target-based design expands the horizon of drug design and development and offers novel chemical entities and potential drug candidates to the therapeutic arsenal against the aforementioned neglected diseases. In this review, we report the most promising targets of the main kinetoplastid parasites, as well as their corresponding inhibitors. This overview is part of the Special Issue, entitled “Advances of Medicinal Chemistry against Kinetoplastid Protozoa (Trypanosoma brucei, Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania spp.) Infections: Drug Design, Synthesis and Pharmacology”.
