Luciferase-based, high-throughput assay for screening and profiling transmission-blocking compounds against Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes

L Lucantoni, DA Fidock, VM Avery - Antimicrobial agents and …, 2016 - Am Soc Microbiol
Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy, 2016Am Soc Microbiol
The discovery of new antimalarial drugs able to target both the asexual and gametocyte
stages of Plasmodium falciparum is critical to the success of the malaria eradication
campaign. We have developed and validated a robust, rapid, and cost-effective high-
throughput reporter gene assay to identify compounds active against late-stage (stage IV
and V) gametocytes. The assay, which is suitable for testing compound activity at incubation
times up to 72 h, demonstrates excellent quality and reproducibility, with average Z′ values …
Abstract
The discovery of new antimalarial drugs able to target both the asexual and gametocyte stages of Plasmodium falciparum is critical to the success of the malaria eradication campaign. We have developed and validated a robust, rapid, and cost-effective high-throughput reporter gene assay to identify compounds active against late-stage (stage IV and V) gametocytes. The assay, which is suitable for testing compound activity at incubation times up to 72 h, demonstrates excellent quality and reproducibility, with average Z′ values of 0.85 ± 0.01. We used the assay to screen more than 10,000 compounds from three chemically diverse libraries. The screening outcomes highlighted the opportunity to use collections of compounds with known activity against the asexual stages of the parasites as a starting point for gametocytocidal activity detection in order to maximize the chances of identifying gametocytocidal compounds. This assay extends the capabilities of our previously reported luciferase assay, which tested compounds against early-stage gametocytes, and opens possibilities to profile the activities of gametocytocidal compounds over the entire course of gametocytogenesis.
American Society for Microbiology