Chemistry and Biology of Antifungal Cyclic Peptides

Confronting the escalating threat of drug-resistant invasive fungal infections, cyclic peptides have emerged as a privileged scaffold for next-generation antifungal discovery. Their cyclic architecture confers enhanced metabolic stability, the peptide backbone enables efficient synthetic access, and their modular nature permits systematic structural diversification. This review summarizes recent advances in both natural and synthetic antifungal cyclic peptides, highlighting their biological sources, mechanisms of action, and structure-activity relationships (SAR). By offering an integrated perspective on this evolving chemical class, this work aims to inform the rational design of novel antifungal agents capable of overcoming existing therapeutic limitations.