BIOM 4090 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Benzodiazepine, Memory Stick, Esophageal Candidiasis
25 Jan 2018
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Capsofungin is an example of an echinocandin: lastly, drugs that are used to treat dermatophytosis (clinical condition caused by a fungal infection in the skin) such as terbinafine are another class we will investigate. Fungal infections are also called mycosis (plural is mycoses). Fungi are considered primitive plants and can exists in various forms such as unicellular yeast-like form (e. g. candida), filamentous mold (e. g. aspergillus) and some are yeast-like inside body but filamentous outside the body (e. g. blastomyces). Unlike bacteria, fungi are eukaryotic organisms making them harder to attack without affecting the host. The primary molecular targets for antifungal therapy are: enzymes, molecules involved in fungal dna synthesis, mitosis, plasma membrane synthesis and cell wall synthesis. The plasma membrane of fungi is unique in that it contains ergosterol instead of cholesterol which makes it a target of many antifungal agents. Polyenes and azoles (endoplasmic reticulum) target the plasma membrane. Flucytosine interferes with nucleic acid and protein synthesis.
