Scientists at the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in New Delhi have developed a new synthetic molecule that prevents both the microbes of tuberculosis and malaria from attacking human cells.
“This work forms the framework for the development of a single drug for combating two deadly infectious diseases, namely malaria and tuberculosis, where wide-spread drug resistance is rampant,” says Dr Pawan Malhotra, the lead author and collaborating scientist of this study.
While there may be some time before such peptide-based drugs are widely seen in the market, the study paves the way to identifying and targeting host-specific molecules for treatment of infectious diseases.
“What we have tried to do is to target human proteins to fight deadly infectious diseases. We have discovered a completely synthetic polypeptide that interacts with human protein called ICAM-1 and its homologue ICAM-4 and inhibits infection by as much as 80%, of pathogens that cause tuberculosis and malaria,” one of the authors of the study Dr Anand Ranganathan said.