Effect of antimicrobial photodynamic inactivation in Fonsecaea pedrosoi and different species of Fusarium sp. by using phenothiazine photosensitizers

• Grant number: 15/05853-7
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: July 01, 2015
• End date: December 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Biology and Physiology of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: Marcia Regina von Zeska Kress
• Grantee: Marcia Regina von Zeska Kress
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto (FCFRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Gilberto Úbida Leite Braga

Abstract

Fonsecaea pedrosoi and Fusarium sp. are important opportunistic filamentous fungi causing mycoses in humans. The increasing tolerance to antifungal drugs and the emergence of new species of pathogenic fungi become the identification and development of new strategies to control these pathogens an important issue to be explored. Antimicrobial Photodynamic Inactivation (API) emerge as a promising alternative to conventional fungicides. API involves the use of a photosensitizer (PS) that preferentially accumulates in the target cells and is activated by exposure to light of suitable wavelength. Activation of the PS in the presence of molecular oxygen induces the generation of reactive oxygen species, which are able to damage the biomolecules, killing the microbial cell. Although promising, API is not widely used for the treatment of mycoses. The main objectives of this project are: (i) evaluation of the API effectiveness with phenothiazine PS in the inactivation of conidia and germinated conidia of Fonsecaea pedrosoi, Fusarium moliniforme, F. oxysporum e F. solani; (ii) intracellular localization of PS in specialized structures of different species Fonsecaea pedrosoi, Fusarium moliniforme, F. oxysporum e F. solani; (iii) to evaluate the effects of API with different PS in the cell wall, cell membrane and the integrity of the genetic material and determine the effect of API in the transcription of genes related to the recovery from damage caused by oxidative stress; (iv) Proteomic analysis by 2D-gel electrophoresis of API with sublethal dosis of phenotiazinic PS in germinated conidia of Fonsecaea pedrosoi, Fusarium moliniforme, F. oxysporum e F. solani; (v) to determine the effect of API in the transcription of the genes which encodes the proteins identified as differentially expressed in the API with sublethal dosis of phenotiazinic PS in germinated conidia of the studied fungal species. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

PAZIANI, MARIO HENRIQUE; TONANI, LUDMILLA; DE MENEZES, HENRIQUE DANTAS; BACHMANN, LUCIANO; WAINWRIGH, MARK; LEITE BRAGA, GILBERTO UBIDA; VON ZESKA KRESSA, MARCIA REGINA. Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy with phenothiazinium photosensitizers in non-vertebrate model Galleria mellonella infected with Fusarium keratoplasticum and Fusarium moniliforme. Photodiagnosis and Photodynamic Therapy, v. 25, p. 197-203, MAR 2019. (15/05853-7)

DE MENEZES, HENRIQUE DANTAS; TONANI, LUDMILLA; BACHMANN, LUCIANO; WAINWRIGHT, MARK; LEITE BRAGA, GILBERTO UBIDA; VON ZESKA KRESS, MARCIA REGINA. Photodynamic treatment with phenothiazinium photosensitizers kills both ungerminated and germinated microconidia of the pathogenic fungi Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium moniliforme and Fusarium solani. JOURNAL OF PHOTOCHEMISTRY AND PHOTOBIOLOGY B-BIOLOGY, v. 164, p. 1-12, NOV 2016. (15/05853-7, 12/15204-8)