# Enabling Toxoplasma gondii Kinome Directed Drug Discovery

> **NIH NIH R44** · LUCEOME BIOTECHNOLOGIES, LLC · 2024 · $1,000,000

## Abstract

Project Summary
Toxoplasma gondii (T.gondii), the causative agent for toxoplasmosis, invades host cells through
ingestion of uncooked infected meat or contaminated water. T.gondii infects 30% of the world’s
population and the current cost of the disease in US itself is estimated to be $3B and rising.
Current treatment regimen is effective only against acute infection and has severe side effects.
Hence there is an urgent need for new drugs and drug targets. The genome of T.gondii, is
predicted to encode 108 active kinases. Kinases have been shown to be involved in every aspect
of the life cycle of T.gondii, from invasion of host cells to virulence. However, the lack of
commercially available robust kinase assays has hindered T.gondii kinome-directed drug
discovery.
In this application, we aim to develop and validate assays targeted against the kinases essential
to the T.gondii parasite’s life-cycle, which is responsible for transmission and disease pathology.
These T.gondii kinase specific assays, based on our three-hybrid split luciferase system, will be
further used for high throughput screening of a kinase targeted inhibitor library. These efforts are
both significant and innovative as the identification of target specific inhibitors will not only provide
pharmacophores for further drug development but also identify chemical probes for studying
kinase biology and signaling pathways to provide new interventions.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10795913
- **Project number:** 5R44AI145502-03
- **Recipient organization:** LUCEOME BIOTECHNOLOGIES, LLC
- **Principal Investigator:** REENA ZUTSHI
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,000,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-03-11 → 2025-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10795913

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10795913, Enabling Toxoplasma gondii Kinome Directed Drug Discovery (5R44AI145502-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10795913. Licensed CC0.

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