Dr. Edward L. D'Antonio

At the University of South Carolina Beaufort, the research carried out by the D'Antonio Laboratory involves the drug discovery of trypanosomatid diseases, particularly Chagas' disease. My team involves undergraduate researchers that work on a variety of techniques from the fields of analytical chemistry, biotechnology, enzymology, structural biology, and synthetic chemistry. I use the structure-based drug design methodology and the SAR methodology to develop new classes of inhibitors for enzyme drug-targets found in the parasites that cause trypanosomatid diseases (i.e., Chagas' disease, African Sleeping Sickness, and Leishmaniasis). My focus is centered on glycolytic and pentose phosphate pathway enzymes that are known to be critically important for cell survival. Since human cells usually have similar enzymes of these drug-targets, our drug designs are created that give rise to parasite selectivity. To keep up with my laboratory's updates and learn more about my research, I welcome you to Follow us on Facebook.

May 2018