Department of Plant Physiology, Institute for Biological Research "Siniša Stanković"-National Institute of Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Bulevar despota Stefana 142, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Mar 2;23(5):2756. doi: 10.3390/ijms23052756.
Despite abundant research in the field of antifungal drug discovery, fungal infections remain a significant healthcare burden. There is an emerging need for the development of novel antifungals since those currently available are limited and do not completely provide safe and secure protection. Since the current knowledge regarding the physiology of fungal cells and the infection mechanisms is greater than ever, we have the opportunity to use this for the development of novel generations of antifungals. In this review, we selected and summarized recent studies describing agents employing different antifungal mechanisms. These mechanisms include interference with fungal resistance, including impact on the efflux pumps and heat shock protein 90. Additionally, interference with virulence factors, such as biofilms and hyphae; the impact on fungal enzymes, metabolism, mitochondria, and cell wall; and antifungal vaccines are explored. The agents investigated belong to different classes of natural or synthetic molecules with significant attention given also to plant extracts. The efficacy of these antifungals has been studied mainly in vitro with some in vivo, and clinical studies are needed. Nevertheless, there is a large quantity of products employing novel antifungal mechanisms that can be further explored for the development of new generation of antifungals.
尽管在抗真菌药物发现领域进行了大量研究，但真菌感染仍然是一个重大的医疗保健负担。由于现有的抗真菌药物有限，并且不能完全提供安全有效的保护，因此迫切需要开发新型抗真菌药物。由于目前对真菌细胞生理学和感染机制的了解前所未有，我们有机会利用这些知识来开发新一代抗真菌药物。在这篇综述中，我们选择并总结了最近描述不同抗真菌机制的研究。这些机制包括干扰真菌耐药性，包括对抗流泵和热休克蛋白 90 的影响。此外，还研究了干扰毒力因子（如生物膜和菌丝）、影响真菌酶、代谢、线粒体和细胞壁以及抗真菌疫苗的作用。所研究的药物属于不同类别的天然或合成分子，同时也非常关注植物提取物。这些抗真菌药物的疗效主要在体外进行了研究，有些在体内进行了研究，还需要进行临床试验。然而，有大量采用新型抗真菌机制的产品可供进一步探索，以开发新一代抗真菌药物。
