-
Theileria drug resistance: targeting the mitochondria
Theileria drug resistance is spreading because bovine theileriosis treatment leans on a single drug, buparvaquone. A drug-repurposing screen of the Global Health Priority Box found that rotenone kills Theileria annulata infected cells, keeps working against buparvaquone-resistant cells, and collapses their mitochondrial energy supply. That makes mitochondrial bioenergetics a resistance-independent target for next-generation antiparasitic drugs. Why theileria drug resistance has become a livestock problem Bovine theileriosis is a severe tick-borne disease, and Theileria annulata is the parasite behind it across tropical and subtropical regions. Herds pay for the infection in mortality, reduced milk yield, lost productivity and reproductive impairment. Commercial operations feel it most, because they have no second drug class…
-
Girolline: How a Sea Sponge Compound Reveals Surprising Secrets About Protein Synthesis and Disease
What if a compound found in a sea sponge could reshape our understanding of how cells build proteins—and open doors to treating diseases from cancer to malaria? That’s exactly what a team of researchers from RIKEN, the University of Tokyo, and collaborating institutions discovered. Their work, published in Nature Communications, reveals that girolline—a marine natural product isolated from a sponge found off New Caledonia—works in a far more nuanced way than scientists previously assumed. For decades, researchers knew girolline could stop protein synthesis. What they didn’t know was how, or why it seemed to hit some sequences harder than others. The new study changes that narrative entirely. The Translation Problem…
