Invasive fungal infections are a growing public health threat. As fungi become increasingly resistant to existing drugs, new antifungals are urgently needed. Here, it is reported that 405-nm-visible-light-activated synthetic molecular machines (MMs) eliminate planktonic and biofilm fungal populations more effectively than conventional antifungals without resistance development. Mechanism-of-action studies show that MMs bind to fungal mitochondrial phospholipids. Upon visible light activation, rapid unidirectional drilling of MMs at ≈3 million cycles per second (MHz) results in mitochondrial dysfunction, calcium overload, and ultimately necrosis. Besides their direct antifungal effect, MMs synergize with conventional antifungals by impairing the activity of energy-dependent efflux pumps. Finally, MMs potentiate standard antifungals both in vivo and in an ex vivo porcine model of onychomycosis, reducing the fungal burden associated with infection.
Keywords: antifungal; fungal mitochondrial phospholipids; molecular machines; reduction of infection-associated mortality and fungal burden; visible light activation.
© 2023 The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.