NCU Research Team Developed a Dermatophytosis Killer

On February 19,Science and Technology Daily reported that researchers from the Light Health Team of NCU carbonized Chinese mugwort and modified ZnO nanomaterials to prepare a narrow bandgap material (CMZ) with dual response to yellow light (YL) and ultrasound (US) for synergistic anti-fungal therapy, which is more effective than the traditional antifungal agent ketoconazole (Daktarian)

Fungal infections are usually caused by pathogenic bacteria such as Candida, Cryptococcus, and Aspergillus, with invasive candidiasis being one of the biggest challenges. Due to the high depth of invasion and the tendency to form biofilms under the skin, this type of fungal infection further increases the difficulty of treatment. At present, antifungal agents represented by azole drugs are the most typical first-line therapies, but due to the similarity between fungi and human hosts, strong antifungal agents are prone to exhibit high cytotoxicity. Moreover, the long-term use of such antifungal agents may also lead to the development of pathogen resistance. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a safe and effective antibiotic free therapy for treating fungal infections.

Diagram of the CMZ-based US and YL platforms for the treatment of open wound and subcutaneous infection caused by C.albicans

Recently, researchers from the Light Health Team of NCU carbonized traditional Chinese medicine mugwort and modified ZnO nanomaterials to prepare a narrow bandgap material (CMZ) with dual response to yellow light (YL) and ultrasound (US) for synergistic antifungal therapy. Under the irradiation of US and YL, CMZ generated a large number of reactive oxygen species (ROS) through piezoelectric photocatalysis, which also interfered related gene expressions of fungal virulence, metabolic activity, mycelial growth and the development of biofilm, achieving efficient eradication of floating Candida albicans and its mature biofilms. Despite being separated by a 1 centimeter thick tissue barrier, CMZ can quickly inactivate 99% of C. albicans and achieve excellent vitro deep antifungal efficacy. Besides, the efficacy of the CMZ-based anti-fungal therapy was demonstrated to be superior to traditional anti-fungal agent Ketoconazole(Daktarian) through two kinds of fungal infection models(open wound infection and deep skin infection).

The treatment of subcutaneous infection

It has been found from the research, based on the problems of high invasive depth and difficulty in treatment, a CMZ deep anti-fungal platform prompted by US and YL was constructed to achieve quick treatment of fungal infection. The narrow bandgap CMZ with dual responsiveness to ultrasound and yellow light can generate a large amount of ROS through piezoelectric photocatalysis, and eradicate planktonic C. albicans and its biofilm. The potential anti-fungal mechanism involves endogenous ROS production and interference of biological process, including fungal virulence factors and related genes of oxidative stress, iron metabolism, mycelial growth and the formation of biofilm.

The experiment demonstrated that the anti-fungal platform showed excellent therapeutic ability in two fungal infection models (open wound infection and deep-skin infection), and was superior than the efficacy of traditional anti-fungal agent KTZ, including the rapid clearance of deep-skin fungus and effective repair of infectious tissues. In summary, the CMZ anti-fungal therapy promoted by US and YL provides a promising alternative anti-fungal therapy for fungal infections and is also expected to treat infectious disease at other deeper parts of human body (such as bacterial pneumonia and Helicobacter pylori infection).

Paper link:

http://www.stdaily.com/index/kejixinwen/202402/9c2a6146cd264491a91e82f4f7b0d821.shtml

Editor：Zeng Hui

Executive Editor: Tu Jinfeng