02573nas a2200373   4500000000100000008004100001260001600042653002200058653002100080653001700101653002300118653003800141653001300179653001700192100001500209700001200224700001300236700001300249700001500262700001700277700001300294700001500307700001300322700002500335700001400360700001500374700001400389700001200403245012000415856015300535300000900688520148800697022001402185       2023                            d  bElsevier BV10aMolecular Biology10aGeneral Medicine10aBiochemistry10aStructural Biology10aVector-borne protozoan infections10aPeptides10aSnake venoms1 aAlmeida JR1 aGomes A1 aMendes B1 aAguiar L1 aFerreira M1 aBrioschi MBC1 aDuarte D1 aNogueira F1 aCortes S1 aSalazar-Valenzuela D1 aMiguel DC1 aTeixeira C1 aGameiro P1 aGomes P00aUnlocking the potential of snake venom-based molecules against the malaria, Chagas disease, and leishmaniasis triad  uhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141813023016392/pdfft?md5=3322658fa8b4531ec9ab490d6eb9e69d&pid=1-s2.0-S0141813023016392-main.pdf  a1-433 a<p>Malaria, leishmaniasis and Chagas disease are vector-borne protozoal infections with a disproportionately high impact on the most fragile societies in the world, and despite malaria-focused research gained momentum in the past two decades, both trypanosomiases and leishmaniases remain neglected tropical diseases. Affordable effective drugs remain the mainstay of tackling this burden, but toxicicty, inneficiency against later stage disease, and drug resistance issues are serious shortcomings. One strategy to overcome these hurdles is to get new therapeutics or inspiration in nature. Indeed, snake venoms have been recognized as valuable sources of biomacromolecules, like peptides and proteins, with antiprotozoal activity. This review highlights major snake venom components active against at least one of the three aforementioned diseases, which include phospholipases A2, metalloproteases, L-amino acid oxidases, lectins, and oligopeptides. The relevance of this repertoire of biomacromolecules and the bottlenecks in their clinical translation are discussed considering approaches that should increase the success rate in this arduous task. Overall, this review underlines how venom-derived biomacromolecules could lead to pioneering antiprotozoal treatments and how the drug landscape for neglected diseases may be revolutionized by a closer look at venoms. Further investigations on poorly studied venoms is needed and could add new therapeutics to the pipeline.</p>
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