Abstract
For decades, Praziquantel (PZQ) is the drug of choice against one of the most afflicting helminthic diseases worldwide, schistosomiasis. With respect to the fear of upcoming PZQ resistance, efforts are needed to find new chemotherapeutic options. Protein kinases (PKs) are essential molecules in signaling processes and indispensable to life. Aberrant PK functions take distinctive roles in human diseases and represent targets in chemotherapies. In schistosomes, conserved PKs were found to possess similar pivotal roles contributing not only to reproduction processes, but also to the pathology of schistosomiasis, which is closely associated to egg production. Exploiting the similarity of PKs of humans and schistosomes, PK inhibitors designed to treat human diseases may serve as lead compounds for new drugs against schistosomiasis.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to acknowledge the tremendous contributions of all members of the laboratories in Germany (Grevelding) and France (Dissous) as well as different collaboration partners worldwide during the past decade, especially K Cailliau, S Verjovski-Almeida, KC Oliveira, CR Caffrey, T Long, R Geyer, S Frank, E Petzinger († in memoriam) and J Geyer.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The authors thank the German Research Foundation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG; GR 1549/5–1; GR 1549/5–2; GR 1549/8–1; GR 1549/8–2) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1024324) for funding the research projects that led to results summarized in this article. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.