Rhomboid intramembrane proteases regulate pathophysiological processes, but their targeting in a disease context has never been achieved. We decoded the atypical substrate specificity of malaria rhomboid PfROM4, but found, unexpectedly, that it results from "steric exclusion": PfROM4 and canonical rhomboid proteases cannot cleave each other's substrates due to reciprocal juxtamembrane steric clashes. Instead, we engineered an optimal sequence that enhanced proteolysis >10-fold, and solved high-resolution structures to discover that boronates enhance inhibition >100-fold. A peptide boronate modeled on our "super-substrate" carrying one "steric-excluding" residue inhibited PfROM4 but not human rhomboid proteolysis. We further screened a library to discover an orthogonal alpha-ketoamide that potently inhibited PfROM4 but not human rhomboid proteolysis. Despite the membrane-immersed target and rapid invasion, ultrastructural analysis revealed that single-dosing blood-stage malaria cultures blocked host-cell invasion and cleared parasitemia. These observations establish a strategy for designing parasite-selective rhomboid inhibitors and expose a druggable dependence on rhomboid proteolysis in non-motile parasites.

• MeSH
• amidy chemická syntéza   chemie   farmakologie   MeSH
• antimalarika chemická syntéza   chemie   farmakologie   MeSH
• HEK293 buňky MeSH
• inhibitory proteas chemická syntéza   chemie   farmakologie   MeSH
• kyseliny boronové chemická syntéza   chemie   farmakologie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• malárie krev   farmakoterapie   metabolismus   MeSH
• molekulární struktura MeSH
• parazitické testy citlivosti MeSH
• peptidy chemická syntéza   chemie   farmakologie   MeSH
• Plasmodium falciparum účinky léků   metabolismus   MeSH
• proteasy krev   metabolismus   MeSH
• proteolýza účinky léků   MeSH
• protozoální proteiny antagonisté a inhibitory   krev   metabolismus   MeSH
• racionální návrh léčiv * MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural MeSH
• Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. MeSH