Advances in fungal apoptosis-like cell death and targeted drugs

Abstract:

Currently, the drugs available for treating fungal infections show limited number and off-target effects. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop new antifungal drugs. Fungal apoptosis-like cell death (ALCD) is a cell death phenomenon that occurs during the normal development stage of organisms. This article summarizes the characteristics, signaling pathways, and key factors involved in fungal ALCD and introduces the natural and synthetic drugs that can induce fungal apoptosis. The natural drugs include lipid peptides, farnesol, statins, and alkaloids from microorganisms, organic acids and essential oils from plants, and melittins from insects. Furthermore, this article establishes the basic molecular landscape of drug-induced fungal ALCD. This article provides a theoretical basis for formulating a new strategy for resisting pathogenic fungi and developing targeted antifungal drugs.