Hannes Hoppe earns PhD after successful defense

We are happy to announce that our colleague Hannes Hoppe has successfully defended his doctoral thesis “Exploration of new therapeutic approaches and genetic and non-genetic adaptations in Plasmodium falciparum” at Karolinska Institutet – a remarkable achievement and the result of years of hard work

Hannes dedication throughout this journey set a powerful example for everyone at Macanda.

𝗔 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝘀’ 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀:

Malaria is highly prevalent in Africa, resulting in 600,000 deaths every year.

His thesis focused on evaluating the potential of nitric oxide donors for malaria treatment as well as the parasite’s ability to introduce resistance against heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) inhibitors.

The NO donor Supernitro, developed by Attgeno effectively inhibits malaria parasite growth and induces a cytostatic effect. This effect can be prolonged with repeated dosing, ultimately leading to parasite death.
An antagonistic interaction between NO donors and the artemisinin derivative dihydroartemisinin was observed, providing valuable insights into the compatibility of these drug classes.
Malaria parasites can effectively develop resistance to the Hsp90 inhibitor geldanamycin. Advanced resistance is driven by transcriptional changes, leading to hyper-resistance.
The trajectory of drug resistance development appears to be fitness dependent.