2. Academic Validation
  3. Repurposing the FDA-approved anticancer agent ponatinib as a fluconazole potentiator by suppression of multidrug efflux and Pma1 expression in a broad spectrum of yeast species

Repurposing the FDA-approved anticancer agent ponatinib as a fluconazole potentiator by suppression of multidrug efflux and Pma1 expression in a broad spectrum of yeast species

  • Microb Biotechnol. 2022 Feb;15(2):482-498. doi: 10.1111/1751-7915.13814.
Lin Liu 1,  Tong Jiang 2 3,  Jia Zhou 1,  Yikun Mei 1,  Jinyang Li 1,  Jingcong Tan 1,  Luqi Wei 1,  Jingquan Li 1,  Yibing Peng 4 5,  Changbin Chen 2 6,  Ning-Ning Liu 1,  Hui Wang 1
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Center for Single-Cell Omics, School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China.
  • 2 Center for Microbes, Development and Health, Key Laboratory of Molecular Virology and Immunology, Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031, China.
  • 3 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
  • 4 Department of Laboratory Medicine, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, No. 197 Ruijin ER Road, Shanghai, 200025, China.
  • 5 Faculty of Medical Laboratory Science, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, No. 197 Ruijin ER Road, Shanghai, 200025, China.
  • 6 The Nanjing Unicorn Academy of Innovation, Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 211135, China.
PMID: 33955652 DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.13814
Abstract

Fungal infections have emerged as a major global threat to human health because of the increasing incidence and mortality rates every year. The emergence of drug resistance and limited arsenal of Antifungal agents further aggravates the current situation resulting in a growing challenge in medical mycology. Here, we identified that ponatinib, an FDA-approved antitumour drug, significantly enhanced the activity of the azole fluconazole, the most widely used Antifungal drug. Further detailed investigation of ponatinib revealed that its combination with fluconazole displayed broad-spectrum synergistic interactions against a variety of human Fungal pathogens such as Candida albicans, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Cryptococcus neoformans. Mechanistic insights into the mode of action unravelled that ponatinib reduced the efflux of fluconazole via Pdr5 and suppressed the expression of the Proton Pump, Pma1. Taken together, our study identifies ponatinib as a novel Antifungal that enhances drug activity of fluconazole against diverse Fungal pathogens.

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