MELBOURNE, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Researchers have discovered how a bacterial antibiotic can disarm Candida albicans, a major cause of life-threatening fungal infections, opening new avenues for developing life-saving treatments.
The study, published in Current Biology, found that the antibiotic gladiolin can switch Candida albicans from its tissue-damaging, invasive hyphal form back into its less harmful round yeast form, according to a statement released Thursday from Australia's Monash University.
"The thread-like hyphae of Candida albicans allow the fungus to penetrate and damage human tissue and form drug-resistant biofilms, leading to dangerous infections," said the study's lead author Professor Ana Traven from the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute.
"We've discovered gladiolin effectively 'switches off' this aggressive behavior, pushing the fungus back into its less harmful 'yeast' state," Traven said, adding that this offers a different way to control fungal infections by disarming, rather than killing, the fungus.
Researchers at Monash University and the University of Warwick in Britain found that gladiolin changes the fungus's metabolism, causing it to consume glucose more quickly and forcing it to switch back to its less invasive yeast state.
The findings suggest naturally occurring bacterial molecules like gladiolin could tackle dangerous fungi by both enhancing existing antifungal drugs and switching off one of the fungus's key disease-causing behaviors.
Gladiolin could help existing drugs kill dangerous fungal pathogens, including drug-resistant biofilms on medical devices, while allowing lower, less toxic doses of antifungal medicines, the researchers said, noting that fungal infections kill an estimated two million people worldwide each year, while treatment options remain limited. ■
