Marine Bioactive Compounds against Aspergillus fumigatus: Challenges and Future Prospects

Abstract

With the mortality rate of invasive aspergillosis caused by Aspergillus fumigatus reaching almost 100% among some groups of patients, and with the rapidly increasing resistance of A. fumigatus to available antifungal drugs, new antifungal agents have never been more desirable than now. Numerous bioactive compounds were isolated and characterized from marine resources. However, only a few exhibited a potent activity against A. fumigatus when compared to the multitude that did against some other pathogens. Here, we review the marine bioactive compounds that display a bioactivity against A. fumigatus. The challenges hampering the discovery of antifungal agents from this rich habitat are also critically analyzed. Further, we propose strategies that could speed up an efficient discovery and broaden the dimensions of screening in order to obtain promising in vivo antifungal agents with new modes of action.

A critical look at challenges and future scopes of bioactive compounds and their incorporations in the food, energy, and pharmaceutical sector

“…Fu et al ( 2019 ) have suggested a shift to multi-targeted approaches to screening multiple bioactive compounds simultaneously with the help of biosensor and microfluidic chip-based technologies, as opposed to conventional chromatographic methods. The mechanism of action of bioactive compounds in certain cases is best understood during in vivo screening methods; hence, the scope of discovery of these compounds is limited when screening is confined to in vitro assays (Ahamefule et al 2020 ). Designing effective in vivo assays, especially for antibiotic activity, could help in screening such compounds utilizing novel mechanisms.…”

Caenorhabditis elegans as an Infection Model for Pathogenic Mold and Dimorphic Fungi: Applications and Challenges

“…These compounds usually rescue infected nematodes through other pathways such as direct effects on cardinal virulence factors and/or by stimulating/enhancing the immune responses of the host against pathogens (Okoli et al, 2009;Peterson and Pukkila-Worley, 2018;Ahamefule et al, 2020b). Such compounds may only be screened and identified through in vivo assays since they usually show little or no antimicrobial activities in in vitro assays.…”