The possible mechanism of rhapontigenin influencing antifungal activity on Candida albicans

Narae Kim, Jeong Keun Kim, Dahyun Hwang, Young Hee Lim

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    7 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Rhapontigenin, an aglycone of rhapontin, was produced by biotransformation and we investigated its antifungal activity against Candida albicans, one of the most important opportunistic fungal pathogens. Rhapontigenin is found to have, in vitro, inhibitory activity with a minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) value against all test isolates of 128 - 256 μg/ml. We detected increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in yeast cultures treated with rhapontigenin at the MIC. Rhapontigenin inhibited DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis, especially RNA synthesis, and induced morphological changes and apoptosis of C. albicans. The apoptotic effect of rhapontigenin on C. albicans at subinhibitory concentrations was higher in the stationary growth phase than in the exponential phase, while the opposite results were noted with amphotericin B. The mechanism of antifungal activity of rhapontigenin may be associated with the generation of ROS that might induce apoptosis and it may also involve the inhibition of ergosterol biosynthesis.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)45-52
    Number of pages8
    JournalMedical mycology
    Volume51
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2013 Jan

    Bibliographical note

    Funding Information:
    This research was supported by a Korea University Grant (K1031311).

    Keywords

    • Antifungal activity
    • Apoptosis
    • Candida albicans
    • Ergosterol
    • Rhapontigenin

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Infectious Diseases

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