A compound called ML901 inhibits and destroys the malaria parasite.
The advancement of the University of Melbourne could lead to effective treatment for a disease that kills more than 600,000 people a year.
Plasmodium falciparum, one of the five parasites that cause malaria, is shown to grow on human red blood cells. (Penny Stephens / The Age)
The compound inhibits the malaria parasite, but does not affect human cells, said Professor Leann Tilley.
“ML901 works through an unusual reaction hijacking mechanism,” he said.
“Imagine a stealth weapon that can be used to launch a self-destruct attack on your vehicle: closing the brakes and cutting off the engine.
“ML901 finds a particular loophole in the machinery that uses the malaria parasite to generate the proteins needed to reproduce and stops doing so.”
More than 200 million people contract malaria each year. (AAP)
In human blood cultures and in an animal model, the compound killed malaria parasites that were previously drug-resistant.
“It also shows potential for preventing infected people from spreading the disease to other people, which is key to stopping the spread of malaria,” Tilley said.
“We believe this is just the beginning. We now have the opportunity to find drugs, similar to ML901, that target a number of deadly infectious diseases, including multi – drug resistant bacterial infections.
“The work opens up several new avenues for drug discovery.”
But over time, antimalarial drugs have less of an impact on the disease.
Malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes. (AAP)