Development of a Photo-Cross-Linkable Diaminoquinazoline Inhibitor for Target Identification in <i>Plasmodium falciparum</i>

Di­amino­quina­zolines represent a privileged scaffold for antimalarial discovery, including use as putative <i>Plasmodium</i> histone lysine methyltransferase inhibitors. Despite this, robust evidence for their molecular targets is lacking. Here we report the design and development of a small-molecule photo-cross-linkable probe to investigate the targets of our di­amino­quina­zoline series. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our designed probe for photoaffinity labeling of <i>Plasmodium</i> lysates and identify similarities between the target profiles of the probe and the representative di­amino­quina­zoline BIX-01294. Initial pull-down proteomics experiments identified 104 proteins from different classes, many of which are essential, highlighting the suitability of the developed probe as a valuable tool for target identification in <i>Plasmodium falciparum</i>

Development of a Fluorescent Bodipy Probe for Visualization of the Serotonin 5‑HT_1A Receptor in Native Cells of the Immune System

Serotonin (5-HT) modulates key aspects of the immune system. However, its precise function and the receptors involved in the observed effects have remained elusive. Among the different serotonin receptors, 5-HT_1A plays an important role in the immune system given its presence in cells involved in both the innate and adaptive immune responses, but its actual levels of expression under different conditions have not been comprehensively studied due to the lack of suitable tools. To further clarify the role of 5-HT_1A receptor in the immune system, we have developed a fluorescent small molecule probe that enables the direct study of the receptor levels in native cells. This probe allows direct profiling of the receptor expression in immune cells using flow cytometry. Our results show that important subsets of immune cells including human monocytes and dendritic cells express functional 5-HT_1A and that its activation is associated with anti-inflammatory signaling. Furthermore, application of the probe to the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis model of multiple sclerosis demonstrates its potential to detect the specific overexpression of the 5-HT_1A receptor in CD4+ T cells. Accordingly, the probe reported herein represents a useful tool whose use can be extended to study the levels of 5-HT_1A receptor in ex vivo samples of different immune system conditions