Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Interdisciplinary Research Center, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32, 35392, Giessen, Germany.
Adv Biochem Eng Biotechnol. 2013;135:157-92. doi: 10.1007/10_2013_191.
: The most important parasitic diseases, malaria, leishmaniasis, trypanosomiasis, and schistosomiasis, are a great burden to mankind, threatening the life of millions of people worldwide and mostly affecting the poorest. Because drug resistance is increasing and vaccines are rarely available, novel chemotherapeutic compounds are necessary in order to treat these devastating diseases. Insects serve as vectors of many human parasitic diseases and have been shown to express a huge variety of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). Therefore, research activity on insect-derived AMPs has been increasing in the last 40 years. This chapter summarizes the current state of research on the possible role of AMPs as potential chemotherapeutic compounds against human parasitic diseases. As a representative antimicrobial peptide with antiparasitic activity, the structure of insect defensin A is shown [PDB accession code: 1ICA]. The molecule is surrounded by schematic representations of the human pathogenic parasites Plasmodium, Leishmania and Trypanosoma.
最重要的寄生虫病，如疟疾、利什曼病、锥虫病和血吸虫病，对人类造成了巨大的负担，威胁着全世界数百万人的生命，而且这些疾病主要影响最贫困人口。由于耐药性不断增加，疫苗也很少可用，因此需要新型化疗化合物来治疗这些毁灭性疾病。昆虫是许多人类寄生虫病的媒介，已被证明表达了大量的抗菌肽 (AMPs)。因此，在过去的 40 年中，关于昆虫衍生 AMPs 作为治疗人类寄生虫病的潜在化疗化合物的研究活动一直在增加。本章总结了 AMPs 作为治疗人类寄生虫病的潜在化疗化合物的可能作用的研究现状。作为一种具有抗寄生虫活性的代表性抗菌肽，展示了昆虫防御素 A 的结构[PDB 访问代码：1ICA]。该分子周围是人类病原体寄生虫疟原虫、利什曼原虫和锥虫的示意性表示。
