Caspofungin-Based Red-Emissive Probes for Fluorescent Imaging of Pathogenic Fungi

Area of Science:

• Medical imaging
• Mycology
• Antimicrobial drug development

Background:

• Fungal infections cause significant global morbidity.
• Inaccurate diagnosis of fungal infections contributes to high morbidity and antimicrobial resistance.
• There is a need for improved diagnostic tools for fungal detection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop novel optical imaging probes for enhanced fungal detection.
• To utilize the antifungal caspofungin as a basis for these probes.
• To improve the accuracy and efficiency of diagnosing fungal infections.

Main Methods:

• Selective conjugation of caspofungin with red-emitting fluorescent dyes.
• Characterization of the resulting probes using 2D NMR spectroscopy.
• Testing probe efficacy in selective labeling of pathogenic fungal strains and multiplexed imaging in co-cultures.

Main Results:

• Successfully developed fluorescent probes based on caspofungin.
• Confirmed specific fluorophore attachment positions via 2D NMR.
• Demonstrated selective labeling of pathogenic fungi by both isomers with high efficacy.
• Achieved selective multiplexed imaging of fungi in fungal-bacterial co-cultures using benchtop platforms.

Conclusions:

• The developed caspofungin-based fluorescent probes are effective for optical imaging of fungal infections.
• These probes offer a promising tool for accurate and selective fungal detection.
• The technology is applicable even with basic imaging equipment, facilitating broader use.