Date: March 7, 2016
Last year alone, over 440,000 people died from Malaria, but a new drug candidate discovered here at Rutgers offers strong hope in the fight against the disease. The antimalarial compound, prepared in CCB Professor Spencer Knapp's lab, is presently undergoing clinical trials in humans. The compound, code-named SJ733, works by binding to a malaria parasite protein that serves as a sodium ion pump. SJ733 blocks or interferes with the protein, causing sodium ion concentration to increase. This allows water to rush in, swelling and then blowing up the parasite inside human blood cells.
Read the full article on Rutgers Today.
