Ricerc@Sapienza

Malaria mortality rates have fallen by 47% globally since 2000 and by 54% in the African region, but they are still a major problem. Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites, vectored to people through Anopheles mosquitoes, which mainly bite between dusk and dawn. Currently, a growing number of Plasmodium species and strains developed resistance to the most commonly used anti-malarial drugs. Chloroquine (CQ), the most commonly used anti-malarial drug, actually is not effective in a number of cases, and growing Plasmodium resistance has been already observed to artemisinin.

Artesunic acid and artemisinin are natural substances with promiscuous anticancer activity against different types of
cancer cell lines. The mechanism of action of these compounds is associated with the formation of reactive radical species by
cleavage of the sesquiterpene pharmacophore endoperoxide bridge. Here we suggested topoisomerase 1 as a possible molecular
target for the improvement of the anticancer activity of these compounds. In this context, we report that novel hybrid and dimer