Abstract
Many antifungal drugs including the highly successful azoles target the fungal-specific sterol, ergosterol, yet the molecular identity of cellular pathways mediating antifungal activity remained obscure. A recent study on the requirement of ergosterol in vacuolar H+-ATPase (V-ATPase) function uncovered a critical role for ion homeostasis downstream of azole inhibition of ergosterol biosynthesis. Here we review the functional link between regulation of V-ATPase by fungal membrane lipid components and discuss contributions of V-ATPase function to pathogenicity. The importance of pH homeostasis in virulence highlights its potential as target in antifungal chemotherapy.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 551-554 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Virulence |
Volume | 1 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 2010 |
Keywords
- Candida albicans
- Ergosterol
- Ph homeostasis
- V-atpase
- Vacuole
- Yeast
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Parasitology
- Microbiology
- Immunology
- Microbiology (medical)
- Infectious Diseases