Candidiasis and the impact of flow cytometry on antifungal drug discovery
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Published on: June 19, 2013
Tsun Sheng N Ku1,2, Stella Bernardo1,2, Carla J Walraven3
1a Section of Infectious Diseases , New Mexico VA Health Care System , Albuquerque , NM , USA.
Introduction:
Invasive candidiasis continues to be associated with significant morbidity and mortality as well as substantial health care costs nationally and globally. One of the contributing factors is the development of resistance to antifungal agents that are already in clinical use. Moreover, there are known treatment limitations with all of the available antifungal agents. Since traditional techniques in novel drug discovery are time consuming, high-throughput screening using flow cytometry presents as a potential tool to identify new antifungal agents that would be useful in the management of these patients. Areas covered: In this review, the authors discuss the use of automated high-throughput screening assays based upon flow cytometry to identify potential antifungals from a library comprised of a large number of bioactive compounds. They also review studies that employed the use of this research methodology that has identified compounds with antifungal activity. Expert opinion: High-throughput screening using flow cytometry has substantially decreased the processing time necessary for screening thousands of compounds, and has helped enhance our understanding of fungal pathogenesis. Indeed, the authors see this technology as a powerful tool to help scientists identify new antifungal agents that can be added to the clinician's arsenal in their fight against invasive candidiasis.
Insights
High-throughput screening using flow cytometry accelerates the discovery of novel antifungal agents to combat invasive candidiasis. This technology aids in identifying new treatments for drug-resistant fungal infections.
Area of Science:
- Medical Mycology
- Drug Discovery
- Infectious Diseases
Background:
- Invasive candidiasis presents significant morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs globally.
- Antifungal resistance and treatment limitations necessitate novel therapeutic strategies.
- Traditional drug discovery methods are time-consuming and inefficient.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the application of high-throughput screening (HTS) using flow cytometry for identifying new antifungal agents.
- To highlight studies that have successfully employed this methodology to find compounds with antifungal activity.
- To emphasize the potential of HTS and flow cytometry in combating invasive candidiasis.
Main Methods:
- Automated high-throughput screening assays utilizing flow cytometry.
- Screening large libraries of bioactive compounds for antifungal activity.
- Reviewing existing research that employed flow cytometry-based HTS for antifungal discovery.
Main Results:
- Flow cytometry-based HTS significantly reduces screening time for thousands of compounds.
- This methodology has identified compounds exhibiting antifungal activity.
- Enhanced understanding of fungal pathogenesis through advanced screening techniques.
Conclusions:
- High-throughput screening with flow cytometry is a powerful tool for identifying novel antifungal agents.
- This technology accelerates the discovery of new treatments for invasive candidiasis.
- It offers a promising approach to overcome antifungal resistance and treatment limitations.
