In:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 104, No. 11 ( 2007-03-13), p. 4606-4611
Abstract:
The high mortality rate of immunocompromised patients with fungal infections and the limited availability of highly efficacious and safe agents demand the development of new antifungal therapeutics. To rapidly discover such agents, we developed a high-throughput synergy screening (HTSS) strategy for novel microbial natural products. Specifically, a microbial natural product library was screened for hits that synergize the effect of a low dosage of ketoconazole (KTC) that alone shows little detectable fungicidal activity. Through screening of ≈20,000 microbial extracts, 12 hits were identified with broad-spectrum antifungal activity. Seven of them showed little cytotoxicity against human hepatoma cells. Fractionation of the active extracts revealed beauvericin (BEA) as the most potent component, because it dramatically synergized KTC activity against diverse fungal pathogens by a checkerboard assay. Significantly, in our immunocompromised mouse model, combinations of BEA (0.5 mg/kg) and KTC (0.5 mg/kg) prolonged survival of the host infected with Candida parapsilosis and reduced fungal colony counts in animal organs including kidneys, lungs, and brains. Such an effect was not achieved even with the high dose of 50 mg/kg KTC. These data support synergism between BEA and KTC and thereby a prospective strategy for antifungal therapy.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0027-8424
,
1091-6490
DOI:
10.1073/pnas.0609370104
Language:
English
Publisher:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publication Date:
2007
detail.hit.zdb_id:
209104-5
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1461794-8
SSG:
11
SSG:
12
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