Plasmodium Falciparun Malate Dehydrogenase & Drug Design

Background Information to the project area

Current Focus:

                        Allosteric Drug Design

                        Orthosteric Drug Design

Schools Teaching CUREs based on this project areas

                        University of San Diego

                        SouthWest Community College

Available Biologics

                        Plasmodium Falciparun Malate Dehydrogenase

Crystal Structure

                        Allosteric Mutants of P falciparum MDH

Human Cytosolic Malate Dehydrogenase

Modeled Crystal Structure

Human Mitochondrial Malate Dehydrogenase

Crystal Structure

Related Literature

Natalie Botros, Ellis Bell, Jessica Bell, The existence of a Cryptic Allosteric Site on Plasmodium falciparum Malate Dehydrogenase, First published: 18 April 2020:

Natalie Botros, Ellis Bell & Jessica Bell “Potential Drug Design for Plasmodium falciparum MalateDehydrogenase Targeting the Cryptic Allosteric Site” First published: 14 May 2021,

Bell, E & Bell J., “Allosterism and Drug Discovery” Burger’s Medicinal Chemistry, Drug Discovery and Development, Eighth Edition. Volume 2, pages 163-240, 2021,

Atilio Reyes Romero,  Serjey Lunev, Grzegorz M Popowicz, Vito Calderone, Matteo Gentili, Michael Sattler, Jacek Plewka, Michał Taube, Maciej Kozak, Tad A Holak, Alexander S S Dömling, Matthew R Groves. “A fragment-based approach identifies an allosteric pocket that impacts malate dehydrogenase activity”

Sergey Lunev, Sabine Butzloff, Atilio R Romero, Marleen Linzke, Fernando A Batista, Kamila A Meissner, Ingrid B Müller, Alaa Adawy, Carsten Wrenger,Matthew R Groves. “Oligomeric interfaces as a tool in drug discovery: Specific interference with activity of malate dehydrogenase of Plasmodium falciparum in vitro”

Wrenger C, Müller IB, Butzloff S, Jordanova R, Lunev S, Groves MR. “Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction of malate dehydrogenase from Plasmodium falciparum.”

Pradhan A, Mukherjee P, Tripathi AK, Avery MA, Walker LA, Tekwani BL. “Analysis of quaternary structure of a [LDH-like] malate dehydrogenase of Plasmodium falciparum with oligomeric mutants.”

Pradhan A, Tripathi AK, Desai PV, Mukherjee PK, Avery MA, Walker LA, Tekwani BL “Structure and function of Plasmodium falciparum malate dehydrogenase: role of critical amino acids in co-substrate binding pocket.”