Abstract
Background
Our previous studies showed that Shikonin (SK) had a strong anti-Candida albican (C. albicans) activity, especially against some fluconazole-resistant strains, which is probably due to the oxidative damage of SK to C. albicans.
Methods and results
In this study, we expanded the antifungal spectrum and evaluate the toxicity of SK. The results indicated that SK also exhibited potent invitro antifungal activities against other pathogenic fungi such as other Candida, Aspergillus, Cryptococcus, and Dermatophytes, but did not display apparent toxicity to the mammalian cells, suggesting that SK is safe to be a potential antifungal drug. Furtherly, we analyze the exact mechanism of SK against C. albicans. We found that SK could induce a series of apoptosis characteristics, including phosphatidylserine externalization, chromatin condensation and fragmentation, decreased cytochrome c oxidase activity as well as caspase activation.
Conclusions
In summary, this study highlighted the antifungal activity and mechanism of SK against C. albicans, providing a potential therapeutic strategy for C. albicans infection.
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Data availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
This work was funded by Science and Technology Project of Hebei Education Department (QN2021004), the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei province (Grant no. H2021406043) and 2021 Research Start-up Fund for High-level Talents of Chengde Medical College (202109).
Funding
This work was funded by Science and Technology Project of Hebei Education Department (QN2021004), the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei province (Grant no. H2021406043) and 2021 Research Start-up Fund for High-level Talents of Chengde Medical College (202109).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by CP, YC, JC, SL and HM. The first draft of the manuscript was written by HM and CP, the revison manuscript was written by YC and HM. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Pang, C., Chen, J., Liu, S. et al. In vitro antifungal activity of Shikonin against Candida albicans by inducing cellular apoptosis and necrosis. Mol Biol Rep 50, 1079–1087 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-022-08093-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-022-08093-7