A novel anti Candida albicans drug screening system based on high-throughput microfluidic chips

Sci Rep. 2019 May 30;9(1):8087. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-44298-w.

Abstract

Due to the antibacterial resistance crisis, developing new antibacterials is of particular interest. In this study, we combined the antifungal drug amphotericin B with 50,520 different small molecule compounds obtained from the Chinese National Compound Library in an attempt to improve its efficacy against Candida albicans persister cells. To systematically study the antifungal effect of each compound, we utilized custom-designed high-throughput microfluidic chips. Our microfluidic chips contained microchannels ranging from 3 µm to 5 µm in width to allow Candida albicans cells to line up one-by-one to facilitate fluorescence-microscope viewing. After screening, we were left with 10 small molecule compounds that improved the antifungal effects of amphotericin B more than 30% against Candida albicans persister cells.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amphotericin B / chemistry
  • Amphotericin B / pharmacology
  • Amphotericin B / therapeutic use
  • Antifungal Agents / chemistry
  • Antifungal Agents / pharmacology*
  • Antifungal Agents / therapeutic use
  • Candida albicans / drug effects
  • Candida albicans / genetics
  • Candida albicans / physiology
  • Candidiasis / drug therapy*
  • Candidiasis / microbiology
  • Drug Evaluation, Preclinical / instrumentation
  • Drug Evaluation, Preclinical / methods
  • Drug Resistance, Fungal / drug effects*
  • Drug Resistance, Fungal / genetics
  • Drug Synergism
  • Fungal Proteins / genetics
  • High-Throughput Screening Assays / instrumentation
  • High-Throughput Screening Assays / methods*
  • Humans
  • Lab-On-A-Chip Devices
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests / instrumentation
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests / methods
  • Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / instrumentation
  • Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / methods*

Substances

  • Antifungal Agents
  • Fungal Proteins
  • Amphotericin B