Publications by authors named "Dafna Ben-Yaakov"

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 .

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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.

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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.

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