“Good Carbs” to combat antimicrobial resistance: Carbohydrate derivatives block attachment of fungal pathogens to host cells
Collaborative work between the laboratories of Dr Trinidad Velasco-Torrijos (Department of Chemistry) and Prof Kevin Kavanagh (Department of Biology) at Maynooth University has identified synthetic carbohydrate derivatives as potent inhibitors of the adhesion of opportunistic pathogen Candida albicans to buccal epithelial cells (BECs). “For infection to occur, pathogens must first adhere to the cell surface of the host cell; if this process is impaired, infection may be prevented. This is known as the anti-adhesion approach, and it is one of the lines of research currently investigated as alternatives to conventional antibiotic therapies that may help tackle the growing problem of anti-microbial resistance” says Dr Velasco-Torrijos. This work has just been published in European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, a leading journal of this field. Postgraduate student Ms Harlei Martin, first author on the publication, won Best Poster Prize presenting this work at Medicinal Chemistry Ireland Conference.
Link to the publication
Inhibition of adherence of the yeast Candida albicans to buccal epithelial cells by synthetic aromatic glycoconjugates Martin H et al, European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2018, 160, 82-93.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmech.2018.10.011