UC San Diego

Naegleria fowleri is a free-living amoeba causing primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, a rapid-onset brain infection in humans with over 97% mortality rate. Despite some progress in the treatment of the disease, there is no single, proven, evidence-based treatment with a high probability of cure. Here we report the chemical library screening and experimental identification of four new compounds with amoebicidal effects against N. fowleri. The chemical library was screened by molecular docking against a homology model of sterol Δ8-Δ7 isomerase (NfERG2). Thirty top-ranking hits were then tested in a cell-based assay for antiproliferative/amoebicidal activities. Eight chemicals exhibited nearly 100% inhibition of N. fowleri at 50 μM, with the EC₅₀ values ranging from 6 to 25 μM. A cell toxicity assay using human HEK-293 cells was also performed. Four of the compounds preferentially kill amoeba cells with no apparent human cell toxicities. These compounds fall into two distinct chemical scaffolds with druglike properties.