Bulletin

Issue: September 2005

News

Cooperative search for anti-fungal drugs

Two American chemistry students recently spent two months at La Trobe University on a joint project aimed at producing new and more efficient antifungal drugs.

Such drugs could be used to treat HIV-AIDS patients to combat infections, which, if untreated, are often fatal.

Crystal Sanchez and Emily Parry, final year students at the San Diego State University, worked between June and August, supervised by chemistry lecturer Dr Andrew Hughes on certain 'peptidic natural products'.

'We are interested in peptidic natural products that are generally highly modified by changes to the amide bonds. Nature makes this modification to improve biological activity, a modification we hope to exploit to make better peptide drugs,' Dr Hughes said.

The students worked on the synthesis of a biologically active heavily N-methylated depsipeptide, called Aureobasidin G, which is a compound recently synthesised in Dr Hughes laboratory.

Dr Hughes collaborates with Dr Shelli McAlpine of San Diego State University.

Ms Sanchez and Ms Parry are financed by the American Minorities International Research Training program which assists people in minority groups to do PhD studies in the biomedical field.

Dr Hughes explained that Aureobasidin G is one of a series of peptides, which show anti-fungal properties.

Being scarce natural products, they need to be synthesised in order to be adapted for use as drugs. Specific antifungal properties are important in drugs to treat HIV-AIDS and other immuno-compromised patients.

'The anti-fungals we are working on offer a new mode of action. They are known to target a critical fungus-specific enzyme known as IPC synthase, an enzyme critical to the construction of fungal cell walls. Because its function is specific, it will affect the effecting fungus, and not the host patient.

'Our compounds are also generally of low cytotoxicity. Because of this low toxicity they are providing strong leads as potential drugs,' Dr Hughes added.