by Abdulai Z, Agbo N, Anderson JI, Astley F, Chan B, Atkinson-Evans O, Avelar JL, Aparecida-Silva C, Bhardwaj KD, Bowley WJ, Breitkreuz N, Canby R, Cartwright E, Clifford C, Cordell SA, Donker WJ, Driscoll J, Grady M, Higginbotham L, Hsu D, Hutchinson J, Imberg L, Jackson HF, Johns F, Jones E, Kalinin DV, Kardeşler C, Keal A, Keel L, Kim S, Knight P, Ködel JF, Kumeta L, Lee H, Le Roy S, Maccarone R, Mahmud M, Martin M, Nguyen I, Nolan CJ, Noyes L, Ntuwa ANW, Obarska W, Oldham O, Onyiuke E, Otter J, Page H, Patel D, Reid K, Samaddar K, Shabbir SM, Shevlin P, Sinclair-Wright C, Smithies A, Thomson AS, Tinker J, Uner A, Van Pelt N, Waddell E, Wagwa H, Walthorne C, Warner S, Winge T, Wong NS, Wysocki LJ, Yong CA, Zaheen Z, Matheeussen A, Caljon G, Amewu R, Bertram A, Biersack B, Friel C, Moreira Lima L, Smith C, Wünsch B, Perry B, Cruz LR, Nortcliffe A. ACS Infectious Diseases 2025, 11(9):2593–2606. doi: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.5c00481
Summary: The Open Synthesis Network, launched by DNDi and partner institutions in 2016, taps into the potential of students to help drive the discovery of new drugs for patients living with neglected tropical diseases. The authors of this manuscript present the results of student-led work into the development of a series of aminopyrazoles for Chagas disease, caused by the Trypanosoma cruzi parasite. Seventy-four compounds were synthesized by undergraduate and postgraduate students from six universities from Brazil, Ghana, Germany, USA, and UK. Early evaluation of the structure–activity relationships identified a range of potent hit compounds with selectivity for T. cruzi and no observable cytotoxicity.
