Department of Biology, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA.
Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2013 Aug;57(8):3681-7. doi: 10.1128/AAC.00680-13. Epub 2013 May 20.
Candida albicans is the most common etiologic agent of systemic fungal infections with unacceptably high mortality rates. The existing arsenal of antifungal drugs is very limited and is particularly ineffective against C. albicans biofilms. To address the unmet need for novel antifungals, particularly those active against biofilms, we have screened a small molecule library consisting of 1,200 off-patent drugs already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Prestwick Chemical Library, to identify inhibitors of C. albicans biofilm formation. According to their pharmacological applications that are currently known, we classified these bioactive compounds as antifungal drugs, as antimicrobials/antiseptics, or as miscellaneous drugs, which we considered to be drugs with no previously characterized antifungal activity. Using a 96-well microtiter plate-based high-content screening assay, we identified 38 pharmacologically active agents that inhibit C. albicans biofilm formation. These drugs were subsequently tested for their potency and efficacy against preformed biofilms, and we identified three drugs with novel antifungal activity. Thus, repurposing FDA-approved drugs opens up a valuable new avenue for identification and potentially rapid development of antifungal agents, which are urgently needed.
白色念珠菌是引起全身性真菌感染的最常见病原体,其死亡率高得令人无法接受。现有的抗真菌药物库非常有限,特别是对抗白色念珠菌生物膜的效果不佳。为了解决对新型抗真菌药物的迫切需求,特别是对抗生物膜的药物的需求,我们筛选了一个由 1200 种已获得美国食品和药物管理局 (FDA) 批准的非专利药物组成的小分子文库,即 Prestwick 化学文库,以鉴定抑制白色念珠菌生物膜形成的抑制剂。根据目前已知的药理学应用,我们将这些具有生物活性的化合物分类为抗真菌药物、抗菌/防腐剂或杂类药物,我们认为这些药物以前没有被表征为具有抗真菌活性。使用基于 96 孔微量滴定板的高通量筛选测定法,我们鉴定出了 38 种抑制白色念珠菌生物膜形成的具有药理活性的药物。随后,我们对这些药物针对已形成的生物膜的效力和功效进行了测试,发现了三种具有新型抗真菌活性的药物。因此,重新利用 FDA 批准的药物为鉴定和潜在的快速开发抗真菌药物开辟了一条有价值的新途径,而这是迫切需要的。