Browsing by Author "Patel, Vishal"

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    The cytoplasmic prolyl-tRNA synthetase of the malaria parasite is a dual-stage target of febrifugine and its analogs
    (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2015-05) Herman, Jonathan D.; Pepper, Lauren R.; Cortese, Joseph F.; Estiu, Guillermina; Galinsky, Kevin; Zuzarte-Luis, Vanessa; Derbyshire, Emily R.; Ribacke, Ulf; Lukens, Amanda K.; Santos, Sofia A.; Patel, Vishal; Clish, Clary B.; Sullivan, William J., Jr.; Zhou, Huihao; Bopp, Selina E.; Schimmel, Paul; Lindquist, Susan; Clardy, Jon; Mota, Maria M.; Keller, Tracy L.; Whitman, Malcolm; Wiest, Olaf; Wirth, Dyann F.; Mazitschek, Ralph; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, IU School of Medicine
    The emergence of drug resistance is a major limitation of current antimalarials. The discovery of new druggable targets and pathways including those that are critical for multiple life cycle stages of the malaria parasite is a major goal for developing next-generation antimalarial drugs. Using an integrated chemogenomics approach that combined drug resistance selection, whole-genome sequencing, and an orthogonal yeast model, we demonstrate that the cytoplasmic prolyl-tRNA (transfer RNA) synthetase (PfcPRS) of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is a biochemical and functional target of febrifugine and its synthetic derivative halofuginone. Febrifugine is the active principle of a traditional Chinese herbal remedy for malaria. We show that treatment with febrifugine derivatives activated the amino acid starvation response in both P. falciparum and a transgenic yeast strain expressing PfcPRS. We further demonstrate in the Plasmodium berghei mouse model of malaria that halofuginol, a new halofuginone analog that we developed, is active against both liver and asexual blood stages of the malaria parasite. Halofuginol, unlike halofuginone and febrifugine, is well tolerated at efficacious doses and represents a promising lead for the development of dual-stage next-generation antimalarials.
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    Genome-wide transcriptome analysis identifies novel dysregulated genes implicated in Alzheimer's pathology
    (Wiley, 2020-08-05) Nho, Kwangsik; Nudelman, Kelly; Allen, Mariet; Hodges, Angela; Kim, Sungeun; Risacher, Shannon L.; Apostolova, Liana G.; Lin, Kuang; Lunnon, Katie; Wang, Xue; Burgess, Jeremy D.; Ertekin-Taner, Nilüfer; Petersen, Ronald C.; Wang, Lisu; Qi, Zhenhao; He, Aiqing; Neuhaus, Isaac; Patel, Vishal; Foroud, Tatiana; Faber, Kelley M.; Lovestone, Simon; Simmons, Andrew; Weiner, Michael W.; Saykin, Andrew J.; Radiology and Imaging Sciences, School of Medicine
    INTRODUCTION: Abnormal gene expression patterns may contribute to the onset and progression of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD). METHODS: We performed transcriptome-wide meta-analysis (N=1,440) of blood-based microarray gene expression profiles as well as neuroimaging and CSF endophenotype analysis. RESULTS: We identified and replicated five genes (CREB5, CD46, TMBIM6, IRAK3, and RPAIN) as significantly dysregulated in LOAD. The most significantly altered gene, CREB5, was also associated with brain atrophy and increased amyloid-β accumulation, especially in the entorhinal cortex region. cis-eQTL mapping analysis of CREB5 detected five significant associations (p<5x10−8), where rs56388170 (most significant) was also significantly associated with global cortical amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition measured by [18F]Florbetapir PET and CSF Aβ1-42. DISCUSSION: RNA from peripheral blood indicated a differential gene expression pattern in LOAD. Genes identified have been implicated in biological processes relevant to AD. CREB, in particular, plays a key role in nervous system development, cell survival, plasticity and learning and memory.