The echinocandins anidulafungin, caspofungin, and micafungin have a broad and similar spectrum of in vitro and in vivo activity against most Candida spp. Minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for Candida spp. are usually below 1 μg/mL for most isolates. The exceptions are Candidaparapsilosis and C. guilliermondii. Species-specific clinical breakpoints (CBPs) and epidemiologic cutoff values (...

Since the 1950s, antifungal drug discovery has identified three classes of natural products (griseofulvin, polyenes and echinocandins) and four classes of synthetic chemicals (allylamines, azoles, flucytosine and phenylmorpholines) with clinical value against fungal infections. For life threatening fungal disease, the polyene amphotericin B is still a common choice despite toxic side-effects. T...

The CLSI established clinical breakpoints (CBPs) for caspofungin (CSF), micafungin (MCF) and anidulafungin (ANF) versus Candida. The same CBP (susceptible (S): MIC ≤ 2 mcg/ml; non-S: MIC > 2 mcg/ml) was applied to all echinocandins and species. More data now allow reassessment of these CBPs. We examined cases of echinocandin failure where both MICs and fks mutations were assessed; wild type (WT...

The SENTRY Antimicrobial Surveillance Program monitors global susceptibility and resistance rates of newer and established antifungal agents. We report the echinocandin and triazole antifungal susceptibility patterns for 3,418 contemporary clinical isolates of yeasts and molds. The isolates were obtained from 98 laboratories in 34 countries during 2010 and 2011. Yeasts not presumptively identif...

The molecular chaperone Hsp90 orchestrates regulatory circuitry governing fungal morphogenesis, biofilm development, drug resistance, and virulence. Hsp90 functions in concert with co-chaperones to regulate stability and activation of client proteins, many of which are signal transducers. Here, we characterize the first Hsp90 co-chaperone in the leading human fungal pathogen, Candida albicans. ...