{
  "abstract": "Invasive candidiasis is a serious fungal infection caused by Candida species that can enter the bloodstream and affect major organs, particularly in immunocompromised patients. Development of resistance to standard antifungal therapies, especially with C. auris, has become a major public health issue. While antimicrobial peptides such as the human cathelicidin, LL-37, could represent a possible therapeutic strategy, they are often inactivated when delivered systemically. One alternative therapeutic strategy is antimicrobial peptoids. We studied in vitro activity of three peptoid compounds, oligomers of N-substituted glycines, which mimic the activity of LL-37. Our aim was to establish these peptoid compounds as a potential treatment of invasive candidiasis and compare them to LL-37's antifungal activity. In vitro, LL-37 did not exhibit antifungal activity (MIC > 64) against all C. auris strains and three species of Candida. In contrast, three peptoids were tested against ten C. auris strains and six other Candida species and showed good activity. MICs measured as low as 4 μg/mL for TM5 against C. auris strain 381. Mechanistic studies using TEM and fluorescent confocal microscopy of peptoids against C. auris clinical isolates showed membrane disruption and consolidation of organelles. Peptoids TM4 and TM5 showed strong synergistic effects with fluconazole and caspofungin, and amphotericin B. Serial daily passage of TM4 and TM5 at sub-MIC concentrations showed no resistance developing for up to 3 weeks. Fungicidal kinetics revealed complete killing of fungal colonies after around 1 h. A systemic candidiasis mouse model treated subcutaneously with TM5 3 h after C. auris infection resulted in clearing of infection, indicated by colony forming units (cfu) per gram of kidney, at 24 h with the 5 mg/kg dose. This demonstrates that antimicrobial peptoids are active systemically and have potential to be an antifungal treatment for candidemia, particularly as an alternative therapy for resistant strains.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "University of Louisville Center for Predictive Medicine , Louisville, Kentucky40202, United States.",
    "Department of Oral Immunology and Infectious Diseases, University of Louisville School of Dentistry, Louisville, Kentucky40202, United States.",
    "Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Medicine, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida32608, United States.",
    "Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University Schools of Medicine and Engineering, Stanford, California94305, United States.",
    "Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California94720, United States.",
    "Department of Chemistry, New York University, New York, New York10003, United States."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 11,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Lisa K Ryan",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6422-7720"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Isabella M Griffiths"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Uyen Emily Do"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Denny Gao",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3765-5791"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Erika L Figgins"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Kristian Sørensen",
      "orcid": "0009-0000-4400-8715"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Jennifer S Lin",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9169-7410"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3,
        4
      ],
      "name": "Natalia Molchanova",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7643-4508"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Kent Kirshenbaum"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Annelise E Barron",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0735-6873"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Gill Diamond",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3596-9773"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dbvzhbpqmetag.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1021/acsinfecdis.6c00525",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13660383",
  "id": "dbvzhbpqmetag",
  "issns": [
    "2373-8227"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42917104",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2725|Antifungal resistance and susceptibility"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7208760729",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13660383?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13660383",
  "pmid": "42917104",
  "published": "2026-10-01",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dbvzhbpqmetag.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:36Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42917104",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42917104"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2725|Antifungal resistance and susceptibility",
      "subfield": "infectious-disease"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Antimicrobial Peptoids Show Potent Antifungal Activity against Candidozyma (Candida) auris In Vivo and Broad-Spectrum Activity In Vitro against Other Candida Species.",
  "title_text": "Antimicrobial Peptoids Show Potent Antifungal Activity against Candidozyma (Candida) auris In Vivo and Broad-Spectrum Activity In Vitro against Other Candida Species.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:20:36Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dbvzhbpqmetag",
  "venue": "ACS infectious diseases",
  "versions": []
}