Identification and Mechanistic Evaluation of Hemozoin-Inhibiting Triarylimidazoles Active against Plasmodium falciparum

In a previous study, target based screening was carried out for inhibitors of beta-hematin (synthetic hemozoin) formation, and a series of triarylimidazoles were identified as active against Plasmodium falciparum. Here, we report the subsequent synthesis and testing of derivatives with varying substituents on the three phenyl rings for this series. The results indicated that a 2-hydroxy-1,3-dimethoxy substitution pattern on ring A is required for submicromolar parasite activity. In addition, cell-fractionation studies revealed uncommonly large, dose-dependent increases of P. falciparum intracellular exchangeable (free) heme, correlating with decreased parasite survival for beta-hematin inhibiting derivatives.