artesunate   Click here for help

GtoPdb Ligand ID: 9956

Approved drug PDB Ligand Antimalarial Ligand
artesunate is an approved drug (FDA (2020), EMA (2021))
Compound class: Synthetic organic
Comment: Artesunate is a semisynthetic derivative of artemisinin, a natural product isolated from the qinghao or sweet wormwood plant (Artemisia annua). It contains an unusual endoperoxide bridge, believed to be responsible for the antimalarial activity of artemisinin and its derivatives.
Artesunate is a prodrug that is converted to the active metabolite artenimol (dihydroartemisinin).

The Malaria tab on this ligand page provides additional curator comments of relevance to the Guide to MALARIA PHARMACOLOGY.

artesunate is commercially available from our sponsors

2D Structure
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2D Structure

An image of the ligand's 2D structure. For small molecules with SMILES these are drawn using the NCI/CADD Chemical Identifier Resolver. Click on the image to access the chemical structure search tool with the ligand pre-loaded in the structure editor. For other types of ligands, e.g. longer nucleotides and peptides, a manually drawn representation of the molecule may be provided.

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Physico-chemical Properties
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Physico-chemical Properties

Calculated molecular properties are available for small molecules and natural products (not peptides). Properties were generated using the Chemistry Development Kit (CDK) (Willighagen EL et al. Journal of Cheminformatics vol. 9:33. 2017, doi:10.1186/s13321-017-0220-4; https://cdk.github.io/). All properties were selected to enable the prediction of the Lipinski Rule-of-Five profile or ‘druglikeness’ for each ligand. For more info on each category see the help pages.

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Hydrogen bond acceptors 8
Hydrogen bond donors 1
Rotatable bonds 5
Topological polar surface area 100.52
Molecular weight 384.18
XLogP 2.92
No. Lipinski's rules broken 0

Generated using the Chemistry Development Kit (CDK) (Willighagen EL et al. Journal of Cheminformatics vol. 9:33. 2017, doi:10.1186/s13321-017-0220-4; https://cdk.github.io/)
SMILES / InChI / InChIKey
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SMILES / InChI / InChIKey

SMILES (Simplified Molecular Input Line Entry Specification) A specification for unambiguously describing the structure of chemical molecules using short ASCII strings. Canonical SMILES specify a unique representation of the 2D structure without chiral or isotopic specifications. Isomeric SMILES include chiral specification and isotopes.

Standard InChI (IUPAC International Chemical Identifier) and InChIKey InChI is a non-proprietary, standard, textual identifier for chemical substances designed to facilitate linking of information and database searching. An InChIKey is a simplified version of a full InChI, designed for easier web searching.

Generated using the Chemistry Development Kit (CDK) (Willighagen EL et al. Journal of Cheminformatics vol. 9:33. 2017, doi:10.1186/s13321-017-0220-4; https://cdk.github.io/)

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Canonical SMILES OC(=O)CCC(=O)OC1OC2OC3(C)CCC4C2(C(C1C)CCC4C)OO3
Isomeric SMILES OC(=O)CCC(=O)O[C@@H]1O[C@@H]2O[C@@]3(C)CC[C@@H]4[C@]2([C@H]([C@H]1C)CC[C@H]4C)OO3
InChI InChI=1S/C19H28O8/c1-10-4-5-13-11(2)16(23-15(22)7-6-14(20)21)24-17-19(13)12(10)8-9-18(3,25-17)26-27-19/h10-13,16-17H,4-9H2,1-3H3,(H,20,21)/t10-,11-,12+,13+,16-,17-,18-,19-/m1/s1
InChI Key FIHJKUPKCHIPAT-AHIGJZGOSA-N

Generated using the Chemistry Development Kit (CDK) (Willighagen EL et al. Journal of Cheminformatics vol. 9:33. 2017, doi:10.1186/s13321-017-0220-4; https://cdk.github.io/)
Bioactivity Comments
The interaction table below provides data from an evaluation of the antimalarial (asexual blood stage) activity of artesunate, using a panel of P. falciparum strains.
Whole organism assay data
Key to terms and symbols Click on species/strain names for details Click column headers to sort
MOA/likely target Sp. Assay description Type Action Value Parameter Concentration range (M) Reference
Unknown MOA Pf7G8

Plasmodium falciparum 7G8

P. falciparum strain 7G8 (Pf7G8) was subcloned from the IMTM22 strain by limiting dilution. The original IMTM22 strain was isolated from a 12 year old male near Manaus, Brazil in 1980.
Pf7G8 can be obtained from the European Malaria Reagent Repository or the Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center (MR4). This strain is a gametocyte producer and is reported to be chloroquine-sensitive and pyrimethamine-resistant.
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 Parasite growth inhibition assay - - 8.7 pIC50 - 1
⤷ pIC50 8.7 (IC50 2.1x10-9 M) [3H]-hypoxanthine incorporation [1]
Lifecycle stages: Plasmodium asexual blood stage (erythrocytic merozoite, trophozoite, erythrocytic schizont)
Unknown MOA PfK1

Plasmodium falciparum K1

P. falciparum strain K1 (PfK1) was isolated in Kanchanaburi, Thailand in 1979.
PfK1 can be obtained from the European Malaria Reagent Repository or the Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center (MR4) and is reported to be a multidrug-resistant strain.
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 Parasite growth inhibition assay - - 8.6 pIC50 - 1
⤷ pIC50 8.6 (IC50 2.6x10-9 M) [3H]-hypoxanthine incorporation [1]
Lifecycle stages: Plasmodium asexual blood stage (erythrocytic merozoite, trophozoite, erythrocytic schizont)
Unknown MOA PfW2

Plasmodium falciparum W2

P. falciparum strain W2 (PfW2) was cloned from the Indochina III/CDC isolate, originally derived from a Laotian patient who failed chloroquine therapy.
PfW2 can be obtained from the European Malaria Reagent Repository or the Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center (MR4) and is reported to be resistant to chloroquine and susceptible to mefloquine.
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 Parasite growth inhibition assay - - 8.5 pIC50 - 1
⤷ pIC50 8.5 (IC50 2.9x10-9 M) [3H]-hypoxanthine incorporation [1]
Lifecycle stages: Plasmodium asexual blood stage (erythrocytic merozoite, trophozoite, erythrocytic schizont)
Unknown MOA PfV1/S

Plasmodium falciparum V1/S

P. falciparum strain V1/S (PfV1/S) is an in vitro culture-adapted clone of V1, that originated in Vietnam.
PfV1/S can be obtained from the Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center (MR4) and is reported to be resistant to chloroquine and quinine.
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 Parasite growth inhibition assay - - 8.5 pIC50 - 1
⤷ pIC50 8.5 (IC50 3.1x10-9 M) [3H]-hypoxanthine incorporation [1]
Lifecycle stages: Plasmodium asexual blood stage (erythrocytic merozoite, trophozoite, erythrocytic schizont)
Unknown MOA PfNF54

Plasmodium falciparum NF54

P. falciparum strain NF54 (PfNF54) was derived from a patient who had never left the Netherlands.
PfNF54 can be obtained from the European Malaria Reagent Repository or the Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center (MR4) and is sensitive to a panel of antimalarial compounds including chloroquine and pyrimethamine.
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 Parasite growth inhibition assay - - 8.5 pIC50 - 1
⤷ pIC50 8.5 (IC50 3.5x10-9 M) [3H]-hypoxanthine incorporation [1]
Lifecycle stages: Plasmodium asexual blood stage (erythrocytic merozoite, trophozoite, erythrocytic schizont)
Unknown MOA PfTM90C2A

Plasmodium falciparum TM90C2A

P. falciparum TM90C2A (PfTM90C2A) is a clinical isolate, first described during a Phase 2 clinical trial to determine atovaquone efficacy in Thailand (PMID:8651372). PfTM90C2A is sensitive to atovaquone.
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 Parasite growth inhibition assay - - 8.4 pIC50 - 1
⤷ pIC50 8.4 (IC50 4.1x10-9 M) [3H]-hypoxanthine incorporation [1]
Lifecycle stages: Plasmodium asexual blood stage (erythrocytic merozoite, trophozoite, erythrocytic schizont)
Unknown MOA PfD6

Plasmodium falciparum D6

P. falciparum strain D6 (PfD6) was collected in Sierra Leone.
PfD6 can be obtained from the European Malaria Reagent Repository or the Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center (MR4) and is generally considered drug sensitive with minor mefloquine resistance.
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 Parasite growth inhibition assay - - 8.3 pIC50 - 1
⤷ pIC50 8.3 (IC50 5x10-9 M) [3H]-hypoxanthine incorporation [1]
Lifecycle stages: Plasmodium asexual blood stage (erythrocytic merozoite, trophozoite, erythrocytic schizont)