artemether   Click here for help

GtoPdb Ligand ID: 9955

Synonyms: β-artemether | beta-artemether
Approved drug PDB Ligand Antimalarial Ligand
artemether is an approved drug (FDA (2009) in combination with lumefantrine)
Compound class: Synthetic organic
Comment: Artemether is a semisynthetic derivative of artemisinin, a natural product isolated from the qinghao or sweet wormwood plant (Artemisia annua). Synthesis yields two crystalline anomers, α- and β-artemether, the latter predominates and is marginally more active [2].
Artemether 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.
2D Structure
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Physico-chemical Properties
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Hydrogen bond acceptors 5
Hydrogen bond donors 0
Rotatable bonds 1
Topological polar surface area 46.15
Molecular weight 298.18
XLogP 3.33
No. Lipinski's rules broken 0
SMILES / InChI / InChIKey
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Canonical SMILES COC1OC2OC3(C)CCC4C2(C(C1C)CCC4C)OO3
Isomeric SMILES CO[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/C16H26O5/c1-9-5-6-12-10(2)13(17-4)18-14-16(12)11(9)7-8-15(3,19-14)20-21-16/h9-14H,5-8H2,1-4H3/t9-,10-,11+,12+,13+,14-,15-,16-/m1/s1
InChI Key SXYIRMFQILZOAM-HVNFFKDJSA-N
Bioactivity Comments
The interaction table below provides data from an evaluation of the antimalarial (asexual blood stage) activity of artemether, using a panel of P. falciparum strains.
Whole organism assay data
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MOA/likely target Sp. Assay description Type Action Value Parameter Concentration range (M) Reference
Unknown MOA Pf7G8 Parasite growth inhibition assay - - 8.9 pIC50 - 1
pIC50 8.9 (IC50 1.4x10-9 M) [3H]-hypoxanthine incorporation [1]
Lifecycle stages: Plasmodium asexual blood stage (erythrocytic merozoite, trophozoite, erythrocytic schizont)
Unknown MOA PfK1 Parasite growth inhibition assay - - 8.7 pIC50 - 1
pIC50 8.7 (IC50 2.2x10-9 M) [3H]-hypoxanthine incorporation [1]
Lifecycle stages: Plasmodium asexual blood stage (erythrocytic merozoite, trophozoite, erythrocytic schizont)
Unknown MOA PfV1/S 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 PfNF54 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 PfD6 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 PfW2 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 Parasite growth inhibition assay - - 8.3 pIC50 - 1
pIC50 8.3 (IC50 5.1x10-9 M) [3H]-hypoxanthine incorporation [1]
Lifecycle stages: Plasmodium asexual blood stage (erythrocytic merozoite, trophozoite, erythrocytic schizont)