3 Conference on Protein Kinases of Parasitic Protozoa - EPFL

ContextDiseases caused by parasitic protozoa, such as malaria, sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis andtoxoplasmosis, have a huge mortality and morbidity impact, mostly in the developing world.Malaria alone kills 1‐3 million people yearly. These diseases represent a very serious hindrance tosocio‐economic development of affected countries. Several parasitic protozoa also affect livestockand contribute to the problem. The emergence and spread of resistance against currently availableantiparasitic drugs make the development of novel chemotherapeutic agents an urgent task.In view of (i) the success in targeting protein kinases (PKs) in other disease contexts (notablycancer), and (ii) the divergence between the kinomes of the parasites and of their human hosts,PKs are considered as attractive potential targets for novel antiparasitic agents.Two conferences, held in 2001 (Paris) and 2006 (Glasgow), were organised by Prof. Christian Doerig(now at EPFL, Switzerland) and Prof. Jeremy Mottram (Wellcome Trust Centre for MolecularParasitology, Glasgow), with the purpose of providing a forum on the topics of “PKs as targets forantiparasitc chemotherapy”. This led to a definite structuring of this nascent field, and to severalfruitful collaborations. In the four years that have elapsed since this particular research communitylast convened, several advances have been made, notably in structural biology of parasitic PKs, intarget validation by reverse genetics, and in drug discovery approaches. A topic that particularlynecessitates an integrated approach is the exploitation of the so‐called “malaria boxes”, which arecollections of small molecules resulting from cellular screens on Plasmodium falciparum and whichpossess parasiticidal activity, but for which molecular targets remain unidentified. Protein kinasesrepresent a significant portion of predicted targets, and it is urgent that the community organisesmolecular screens in a rational and efficient way.We therefore decided that it was timely to convene a third meeting on “Protein kinases of parasiticprotozoa”.Key topics at the conference will include :• Function of protein kinases in the life cycle of protozoan parasites.• Target validation; dissecting the components of protein kinase signaling pathways;regulation of protein kinases.• Structural biology of protozoan protein kinases; chemistry of protein kinases inhibitors• Protozoan protein kinases as drug targets; Target based screens/cell based screens; proteinkinase focused libraries