High-throughput screen of potential antifungal drugs using Candida albicans as a model

OBJECTIVE To discover broad-spectrum antifungal drugs,specific anti-Candida albicnas drugs and specific inhibitors of the group Ⅰ intron-containing Candida albicans,by means of the model consisting of three different yeast strains (one is the intron-containing Candida albicans,one is the intronless Candida albicans,one is the intronless Saccharomyces cerevisiae).METHODS 10 720 Samples obtained from the national drug library of China,including natural products and synthetic compounds, were tested with the three strains for their inhibitory efficiency respectively. After static incubation of the yeast in the presence of drug samples at 30℃ for 6 hours,the samples whose inhibitory efficiency was over 50% were selected for secondary screening.RESULTS After primary and secondary screening, the inhibitory efficiency of 23 active samples was over 50% at 10 μg·mL~-1 , one of these active samples specifically inhibited the growth of intron-containing Candida albicans,four specifically inhibited the growth of Candida albicans, eighteen inhibited the growth of all yeasts.CONCLUSION This study represented the first high-throughput screening method to antifungal drug discovery in China.The screening of national drug library inChina firstly allow us to identify several new antifungal compounds that potentially was developed for clinical use. Because of its simplicity and stable results, this method can give implication for the drug discovery of other pathogenic strains.