Figure 2. The peroxidic bridge is essential to the inhibitory activity of artemisinin in both yeast and malaria parasites.

(A) Molecular structures of artemisinin and analogues (artemisinins) used in the study. Deoxyartemisinin contains only one O in the otherwise O-O bridge. (B) Inhibition of yeast growth with artemisinins. Strains of ndi1Δ and nde1Δ, with mutated internal and external NADH dehydrogenase (type II complex I) respectively, exhibit reduced sensitivity to artemisinins. (C) Inhibition of P. falciparum growth by artemisinins in cell culture. Data were shown as mean ± SEM.