Human Parasitic Diseases: Challenges and Progress in Drug Discovery and Target Identification
A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817). This special issue belongs to the section "Parasitic Pathogens".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2025 | Viewed by 1646
Special Issue Editors
Interests: drug discovery; high content screening; Salmonella; parasitology; Trypanosoma cruzi
Interests: antimicrobials; bacteriology; parasitology; drugs and functional screening
Interests: parasitic diseases; functional genomics; target identification; Trypanosoma cruzi; high resolution microscopy
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Protozoa, helminths, and ectoparasites are the main causative agents of human parasitic diseases, which generate a significant global health burden and are strongly related to poverty, low healthcare assistance, and poor sanitary and housing conditions. Because they affect the most vulnerable communities in low-income regions of the world, parasitic diseases have been historically neglected by the pharmaceutical industry and by market-guided drug-discovery campaigns. Consequently, few safe and effective antiparasitic treatments have been developed in recent years, despite the enormous efforts from academia and non-governmental initiatives. Current treatments for most human parasitic diseases rely on old and nonspecific drugs, frequently associated with variable efficacy and poor selectivity. Additionally, in comparison to other human pathogenesis, significantly less is known about relevant molecular players and essential pathways involved in host–parasite interactions, hampering target-based drug-discovery approaches in this area. There is a need for an in-depth understanding of specific host–parasite interplays, aligned with the uncovering of novel relevant targets to favor the discovery and development of new, efficacious, and safe drugs for human parasitic diseases.
This Special Issue is focused on the recent progress and challenges of target identification and drug discovery for human parasitic diseases. We invite you to submit original and review articles related to innovative approaches on early drug discovery, host–pathogen interactions, and target identification for human diseases caused by protozoa, helminths and ectoparasites.
Dr. Caio Haddad Franco
Dr. Laura Maria Alcântara
Dr. Normanda Souza Melo
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- human parasitic diseases
- drug discovery and development
- target identification
- host–pathogen interactions
- mechanism of action
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