Strategies in the discovery of novel antifungal scaffolds

Abstract

The development of next-generation antifungal agents with novel chemical scaffolds and new mechanisms of action is vital due to increased incidence and mortality of invasive fungal infections and severe drug resistance. This review will summarize current strategies to discover novel antifungal scaffolds. In particular, high-throughput screening, drug repurposing, antifungal natural products and new antifungal targets are focused on. New scaffolds with validated antifungal activity, their discovery and optimization process as well as structure-activity relationships are discussed in detail. Perspectives that could inspire future antifungal drug discovery are provided.

Keywords: antifungal drug resistance; antifungal lead compounds; drug repurposing; fungal biofilm inhibitors; invasive fungal infections; new antifungal scaffolds; strategies in antifungal drug discovery.