Structural studies of vacuolar plasmepsins

► Plasmepsins are aspartic proteases encoded by parasite Plasmodium. ► Since these parasites cause malaria, plasmepsins are targets for drug design. ► Four plasmepsins are found in food vacuole of Plasmodium falciparum. ► Crystal structures of all four enzymes have been solved. ► Data on structure and inhibition are summarized here.