Therapeutic agents with novel mechanisms of action are urgently needed to counter the emergence of drug-resistant infections. Several decades of research into proteases of disease agents have revealed enzymes well suited for target-based drug development. Among them are the three recently validated proteolytic targets: proteasomes of the malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum, aspartyl proteases of P. falciparum (plasmepsins) and the Sars-CoV-2 viral proteases. Despite some unfulfilled expectations over previous decades, the three reviewed targets clearly demonstrate that selective protease inhibitors provide effective therapeutic solutions for the two most impacting infectious diseases nowadays-malaria and COVID-19.

Biology Centre Institute of Parasitology Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Branišovská 1160 31 CZ 37005 České Budějovice Czech Republic

Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice Branišovská 1760c CZ 37005 České Budějovice Czech Republic

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Plasmepsin-like Aspartyl Proteases in Babesia