Repositioning Salirasib as New Antimalarial Agent

The antiplasmodial activity assay was performed using a simple, high-sensitivity methodology based on nanoluciferase (nLuc)-transfected P. falciparum parasites. The results showed that some of the analogs were active at low micromolar concentration. The most potent member of the series has S-farnesyl and the triazole moiety substituted with methyl-naphtyl. The low cytotoxicity in eukaryotic cells of the most active analogs provided good therapeutic indexes, being promising candidates for future antimalarial drugs development. Our results provide structure-activity relationship data for the design of new antimalarial drugs.