Molecular understanding of drug interactions suggests pathway to better malaria treatments

*By Jeannie Kever*

Researchers from the University of Houston and the Université libre de Bruxelles published findings in *Nature* demonstrating for the first time at the molecular level what happens when two antimalarial compounds that each inhibit hematin crystal growth are combined.

The results were counterintuitive. Rather than acting synergistically or additively, many drug pairs exhibited antagonistic cooperation—actually reducing each other’s effectiveness. Using atomic force microscopy and computational modeling, the team showed that when two drugs attack crystallization through different mechanisms, they can interfere with each other at the crystal surface.

“When you are using modifiers, a small change in the molecule’s structure can dramatically alter its performance,” said co-author Jeffrey Rimer, Abraham E. Dukler Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UH.

Co-author Peter Vekilov, John and Rebecca Moores Professor at UH, noted that the work will enable the design of more effective malaria treatments and suggests a new approach to screening molecules during drug development—allowing new therapies to be identified more quickly.

The findings extend beyond malaria, providing a molecular-level framework for controlling the crystallization of pathological, biomimetic, and synthetic materials.

The study was co-authored by UH Ph.D. student Wenchuan Ma and Dr. James Lutsko of the Université libre de Bruxelles.

Credit: [UH Cullen College of Engineering](https://www.egr.uh.edu/news/202001/molecular-understanding-drug-interactions-suggests-pathway-better-malaria-treatments)