Crossref journal-article
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
eLife (4374)
Abstract

Malaria inflicts an enormous burden on global human health. The emergence of parasite resistance to front-line drugs has prompted a renewed focus on the repositioning of clinically approved drugs as potential anti-malarial therapies. Antibiotics that inhibit protein translation are promising candidates for repositioning. We have solved the cryo-EM structure of the cytoplasmic ribosome from the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, in complex with emetine at 3.2 Å resolution. Emetine is an anti-protozoan drug used in the treatment of ameobiasis that also displays potent anti-malarial activity. Emetine interacts with the E-site of the ribosomal small subunit and shares a similar binding site with the antibiotic pactamycin, thereby delivering its therapeutic effect by blocking mRNA/tRNA translocation. As the first cryo-EM structure that visualizes an antibiotic bound to any ribosome at atomic resolution, this establishes cryo-EM as a powerful tool for screening and guiding the design of drugs that target parasite translation machinery.

Bibliography

Wong, W., Bai, X., Brown, A., Fernandez, I. S., Hanssen, E., Condron, M., Tan, Y. H., Baum, J., & Scheres, S. H. (2014). Cryo-EM structure of the Plasmodium falciparum 80S ribosome bound to the anti-protozoan drug emetine. ELife, 3. CLOCKSS.

Authors 9
  1. Wilson Wong (first)
  2. Xiao-chen Bai (additional)
  3. Alan Brown (additional)
  4. Israel S Fernandez (additional)
  5. Eric Hanssen (additional)
  6. Melanie Condron (additional)
  7. Yan Hong Tan (additional)
  8. Jake Baum (additional)
  9. Sjors HW Scheres (additional)
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Dates
Type When
Created 11 years, 2 months ago (June 9, 2014, 11:29 a.m.)
Deposited 1 year, 10 months ago (Oct. 11, 2023, 8:45 p.m.)
Indexed 21 hours, 59 minutes ago (Aug. 21, 2025, 1:01 p.m.)
Issued 11 years, 2 months ago (June 9, 2014)
Published 11 years, 2 months ago (June 9, 2014)
Published Online 11 years, 2 months ago (June 9, 2014)
Funders 18
  1. National Health and Medical Research Council 10.13039/501100000925

    Region: Oceania

    gov (National government)

    Labels1
    1. NHMRC
    Awards1
    1. APP1024678, APP1053801
  2. Human Frontier Science Program 10.13039/501100000854

    Region: Europe

    pri (International organizations)

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    1. HFSP
    Awards1
    1. RGY007½011
  3. Medical Research Council 10.13039/501100000265

    Region: Europe

    gov (National government)

    Labels3
    1. Medical Research Council (United Kingdom)
    2. UK Medical Research Council
    3. MRC
    Awards1
    1. MC_UP_A025_1013, MC_U105184332
  4. OzeMalar
  5. Wellcome Trust 10.13039/100004440 Wellcome
    Awards1
    1. WT096570, 100993/Z/13/Z
  6. Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education, Australian Government 10.13039/501100000934
    Awards1
    1. FT100100112
  7. Australian Research Council 10.13039/501100000923

    Region: Oceania

    gov (Other non-profit organizations)

    Labels4
    1. arc_gov_au
    2. The Australian Research Council
    3. Australian Government Australian Research Council (ARC)
    4. ARC
    Awards1
    1. FT100100112
  8. Victorian State Government Operational Infrastructure Support
  9. European Commission 10.13039/501100000780

    Region: Europe

    gov (National government)

    Labels26
    1. European Union
    2. Comisión Europea
    3. Europäische Kommission
    4. EU-Kommissionen
    5. Euroopa Komisjoni
    6. Ευρωπαϊκής Επιτροπής
    7. Европейската комисия
    8. Evropské komise
    9. Commission européenne
    10. Choimisiúin Eorpaigh
    11. Europskoj komisiji
    12. Commissione europea
    13. La Commissione europea
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    15. Europos Komisijos
    16. Európai Bizottságról
    17. Europese Commissie
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    21. Európskej komisii
    22. Evropski komisiji
    23. Euroopan komission
    24. Europeiska kommissionen
    25. EC
    26. EU
    Awards1
    1. EU FP7 Marie Curie
  10. National Health and Medical Research Council 10.13039/501100000925

    Region: Oceania

    gov (National government)

    Labels1
    1. NHMRC
    Awards1
    1. APP1024678, APP1053801
  11. Human Frontier Science Program 10.13039/501100000854

    Region: Europe

    pri (International organizations)

    Labels1
    1. HFSP
    Awards1
    1. RGY007½011
  12. Medical Research Council 10.13039/501100000265

    Region: Europe

    gov (National government)

    Labels3
    1. Medical Research Council (United Kingdom)
    2. UK Medical Research Council
    3. MRC
    Awards1
    1. MC_UP_A025_1013, MC_U105184332
  13. OzeMalar
  14. Wellcome Trust 10.13039/100004440 Wellcome
    Awards1
    1. WT096570, 100993/Z/13/Z
  15. Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education, Australian Government 10.13039/501100000934
    Awards1
    1. FT100100112
  16. Australian Research Council 10.13039/501100000923

    Region: Oceania

    gov (Other non-profit organizations)

    Labels4
    1. arc_gov_au
    2. The Australian Research Council
    3. Australian Government Australian Research Council (ARC)
    4. ARC
    Awards1
    1. FT100100112
  17. Victorian State Government Operational Infrastructure Support
  18. European Commission 10.13039/501100000780

    Region: Europe

    gov (National government)

    Labels26
    1. European Union
    2. Comisión Europea
    3. Europäische Kommission
    4. EU-Kommissionen
    5. Euroopa Komisjoni
    6. Ευρωπαϊκής Επιτροπής
    7. Европейската комисия
    8. Evropské komise
    9. Commission européenne
    10. Choimisiúin Eorpaigh
    11. Europskoj komisiji
    12. Commissione europea
    13. La Commissione europea
    14. Eiropas Komisiju
    15. Europos Komisijos
    16. Európai Bizottságról
    17. Europese Commissie
    18. Komisja Europejska
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    20. Comisia Europeană
    21. Európskej komisii
    22. Evropski komisiji
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    Awards1
    1. EU FP7 Marie Curie

@article{Wong_2014, title={Cryo-EM structure of the Plasmodium falciparum 80S ribosome bound to the anti-protozoan drug emetine}, volume={3}, ISSN={2050-084X}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/elife.03080}, DOI={10.7554/elife.03080}, journal={eLife}, publisher={eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd}, author={Wong, Wilson and Bai, Xiao-chen and Brown, Alan and Fernandez, Israel S and Hanssen, Eric and Condron, Melanie and Tan, Yan Hong and Baum, Jake and Scheres, Sjors HW}, year={2014}, month=jun }