Quinoxaline-Based Anti-Schistosomal Compounds Have Potent Anti-Malarial Activity

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe human pathogensPlasmodiumandSchistosomaare each responsible for over 200 million infections annually, being particularly problematic in low- and middle-income countries. There is a pressing need for new drug targets for these diseases, driven by emergence of drug-resistance inPlasmodiumand the overall dearth of new drug targets forSchistosoma. Here, we explored the opportunity for pathogen-hopping by evaluating a series of quinoxaline-based anti-schistosomal compounds for activity againstP. falciparum. We identified compounds with low nanomolar potency against 3D7 and multidrug-resistant strains. Evolution of resistance using a mutatorP. falciparumline revealed a low propensity for resistance. Only one of the series, compound 22, yielded resistance mutations, including point mutations in a non-essential putative hydrolasepfqrp1,as well as copy-number amplification of a phospholipid-translocating ATPase,pfatp2, a potential target. Notably, independently generated CRISPR-edited mutants inpfqrp1also showed resistance to compound 22 and a related analogue. Moreover, previous lines withpfatp2copy-number variations were similarly less susceptible to challenge with the new compounds. Finally, we examined whether the predicted hydrolase activity of PfQRP1 underlies its mechanism of resistance, showing that both mutation of the putative catalytic triad and a more severe loss of function mutation elicited resistance. Collectively, we describe a compound series with potent activity against two important pathogens and their potential target inP. falciparum.