Entomology Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Entomology, including details on insects, parasites, diseases.

Plasmodium falciparum: development of a transgenic line for screening antimalarials using firefly luciferase as the reporter.

Cui L, Miao J, Wang J, Li Q, Cui L

Department of Entomology, The Pennsylvania State University, 501 ASI Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA.

High-throughput screening (HTS) of small-molecule libraries against pharmacological targets is a key strategy of contemporary drug discovery. This study reports a simple, robust, and cell-based luminescent method for assaying antimalarial drugs. Using transfection technology, we generated a stable Plasmodium falciparum line with high levels of firefly luciferase expression. A luciferase assay based on this parasite line was optimized in a 96-well plate format and used to compare with the standard [(3)H] hypoxanthine radioisotope method. The 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC(50)s) of chloroquine, artesunate, artemether, dihydroartemisinin and curcumin obtained by these two methods were not significantly different (P>0.05, ANOVA). In addition, this assay could be performed conveniently with a luminescence plate reader using unsynchronized stages within as early as 12h. Furthermore, the luciferase assay is robust with a Z' score of 0.77-0.92, which suggests the feasibility for further miniaturization and automation.

Published 11 August 2008 in Exp Parasitol, 120(1): 80-7.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2005-2011 Entomology Research Today. All Rights Reserved.