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Updated: Feb 15, 2026

An In Vitro Approach to Study Mitochondrial Dysfunction: A Cybrid Model
Published on: March 9, 2022
Chiloscyphenol A derived from Chinese liverworts exerts fungicidal action by eliciting both mitochondrial dysfunction
Sha Zheng1, Wenqiang Chang1, Ming Zhang1
1Department of Natural Product Chemistry, Key Lab of Chemical Biology of Ministry of Education, Shandong University, No. 44 West Wenhua Road, Jinan City, Shandong Province, China.
Abstract:
This study aimed to characterize the antifungal effects of chiloscyphenol A (CA), a natural small molecule isolated from Chinese liverworts, and investigate its mode of action. CA was effective against five tested Candida species with a minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 8-32 μg/ml and exhibited fungicidal activity against Candida albicans in both the planktonic state and mature biofilms. The in vivo study using Caenorhabditis elegans showed that CA prolonged the survival of C. albicans infected worms. Further investigations revealed that CA resulted in mitochondrial dysfunction as indicated by mtΔψ hyperpolarization, increased ATP production and intracellular ROS accumulation, and aggregated distribution of Tom70. In addition, CA caused perturbation of the cell membrane and increased membrane permeability, as demonstrated by specific staining and confocal microscopic and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations and by calcein-leakage measurements. This conclusion was further confirmed by the decreased cell size of CA-treated cells via three-dimensional contour-plot analysis using flow cytometry. Taken together, these results suggest that CA exerts fungicidal activity by eliciting both mitochondrial dysfunction and plasma membrane destruction in C. albicans. The elucidated mechanism supports the potential application of CA against clinical fungal infections.
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