Natural product-derived antifungals against Candida albicans: Chemical diversity and mechanisms of action

IF 3.5 3区医学 Q2 BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Pub Date : 2026-01-01 Epub Date: 2025-10-10 DOI:10.1016/j.bmc.2025.118435

Runchu Li , Xiaoxu Yang , Wenjia Dan , Jiangkun Dai

{"title":"Natural product-derived antifungals against Candida albicans: Chemical diversity and mechanisms of action","authors":"Runchu Li , Xiaoxu Yang , Wenjia Dan , Jiangkun Dai","doi":"10.1016/j.bmc.2025.118435","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><em>Candida albicans</em> is a pathogenic fungus responsible for both superficial mucosal infections and life-threatening systemic candidiasis, presenting a substantial challenge to global health. The discovery of novel antifungal agents against <em>C. albicans</em> remains a critical priority in medicinal chemistry. Natural products and their derivatives have historically played a pivotal role in antifungal drug development. This review systematically summarizes recent advances in natural products exhibiting activity against <em>C. albicans</em> from 2020 to the first half of 2025, with an emphasis on their structural diversity including aldehydes, alkaloids, fatty acids, flavonoids, glycosides, peptides, phenylpropanoids, polyketides, tannins, and terpenoids. Furthermore, the antifungal mechanisms of these compounds are discussed, focusing on their interactions with critical targets such as the cell wall, cell membrane, virulence factors, and intracellular targets. By compiling these findings, this review aims to provide valuable insights and lead compounds to guide the design of next-generation antifungals against <em>C. albicans</em>.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":255,"journal":{"name":"Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry","volume":"132 ","pages":"Article 118435"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5000,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0968089625003761","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/10/10 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Candida albicans is a pathogenic fungus responsible for both superficial mucosal infections and life-threatening systemic candidiasis, presenting a substantial challenge to global health. The discovery of novel antifungal agents against C. albicans remains a critical priority in medicinal chemistry. Natural products and their derivatives have historically played a pivotal role in antifungal drug development. This review systematically summarizes recent advances in natural products exhibiting activity against C. albicans from 2020 to the first half of 2025, with an emphasis on their structural diversity including aldehydes, alkaloids, fatty acids, flavonoids, glycosides, peptides, phenylpropanoids, polyketides, tannins, and terpenoids. Furthermore, the antifungal mechanisms of these compounds are discussed, focusing on their interactions with critical targets such as the cell wall, cell membrane, virulence factors, and intracellular targets. By compiling these findings, this review aims to provide valuable insights and lead compounds to guide the design of next-generation antifungals against C. albicans.

Abstract Image

查看原文本刊更多论文

天然产品衍生抗白色念珠菌：化学多样性和作用机制。

白色念珠菌是一种致病真菌，可引起浅表粘膜感染和危及生命的全身性念珠菌病，对全球健康构成重大挑战。发现抗白色念珠菌的新型抗真菌药物仍然是药物化学的关键优先事项。天然产物及其衍生物历来在抗真菌药物开发中起着举足轻重的作用。本文系统总结了从2020年到2025年上半年具有抗白色念珠菌活性的天然产物的最新进展，重点介绍了它们的结构多样性，包括醛类、生物碱类、脂肪酸类、黄酮类、糖苷类、多肽类、苯丙素类、聚酮类、单宁类和萜类。此外，本文还讨论了这些化合物的抗真菌机制，重点讨论了它们与细胞壁、细胞膜、毒力因子和细胞内靶点等关键靶点的相互作用。通过对这些研究结果的整理，本文旨在提供有价值的见解和先导化合物，以指导下一代抗白色念珠菌的设计。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry 医学-生化与分子生物学

CiteScore

6.80

自引率

2.90%

发文量

413

审稿时长

17 days

期刊介绍： Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry provides an international forum for the publication of full original research papers and critical reviews on molecular interactions in key biological targets such as receptors, channels, enzymes, nucleotides, lipids and saccharides. The aim of the journal is to promote a better understanding at the molecular level of life processes, and living organisms, as well as the interaction of these with chemical agents. A special feature will be that colour illustrations will be reproduced at no charge to the author, provided that the Editor agrees that colour is essential to the information content of the illustration in question.