The quinoline bromoquinol exhibits broad-spectrum antifungal activity and induces oxidative stress and apoptosis in Aspergillus fumigatus.

Objectives: Over the last 30 years, the number of invasive fungal infections among immunosuppressed patients has increased significantly, while the number of effective systemic antifungal drugs remains low. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize antifungal compounds that inhibit fungus-specific metabolic pathways not conserved in humans.

Methods: We screened a diverse compound library for antifungal activity in the pathogenic mould Aspergillus fumigatus .

Identification and characterization of haemofungin, a novel antifungal compound that inhibits the final step of haem biosynthesis.

Objectives: During recent decades, the number of invasive fungal infections among immunosuppressed patients has increased significantly, whereas the number of effective systemic antifungal drugs remains low and unsatisfactory. The aim of this study was to characterize a novel antifungal compound, CW-8/haemofungin, which we previously identified in a screen for compounds affecting fungal cell wall integrity.

Methods: The in vitro characteristics of haemofungin were investigated by MIC evaluation against a panel of pathogenic and non-pathogenic fungi, bacteria and mammalian cells in culture.

Direct Observation of Confinement-Induced Charge Inversion at a Metal Surface.

Surface interactions across water are central to areas from nanomedicine to colloidal stability. They are predominantly a combination of attractive but short-ranged dispersive (van der Waals) forces, and long-ranged electrostatic forces between the charged surfaces. Here we show, using a surface force balance, that electrostatic forces between two surfaces across water, one at constant charge while the other (a molecularly smooth metal surface) is at constant potential of the same sign, may revert smoothly from repulsion to attraction on progressive confinement of the aqueous intersurface gap.

Identification and characterization of a novel family of selective antifungal compounds (CANBEFs) that interfere with fungal protein synthesis.

Invasive mycotic infections have become more common during recent decades, posing an increasing threat to public health. However, despite the growing needs, treatments for invasive fungal infections remain unsatisfactory and are limited to a small number of antifungals. The aim of this study was to identify novel fungal cell wall inhibitors from a library of small chemical compounds using a conditional protein kinase C (PKC)-expressing strain of Aspergillus nidulans sensitive to cell wall-active agents.

Response of adherent cells to mechanical perturbations of the surrounding matrix.

We present a generic and unified theory to explain how cells respond to perturbations of their mechanical environment such as the presence of neighboring cells, slowly applied stretch, or gradients of matrix rigidity. Motivated by experiments, we calculate the local balance of forces that give rise to a tendency for the cell to locally move or reorient, with a focus on the contribution of feedback and homeostasis to cell contractility (manifested by a fixed displacement, strain or stress) that acts on the adhesions at the cell boundary. These forces can be either reinforced or diminished by elastic stresses due to mechanical perturbations of the matrix.