# Antifungal Activity of Brilacidin, a Nonpeptide Host Defense Molecule

## TL;DR

This paper explores brilacidin, a synthetic molecule that mimics natural host defense proteins, and shows it has strong antifungal activity against many dangerous fungi.

## Contribution

The study demonstrates brilacidin's antifungal potential against WHO-listed fungal pathogens, suggesting it as a promising lead for new antifungal drugs.

## Key findings

- Brilacidin showed antifungal activity at low concentrations against 40 clinical isolates of 20 fungal species.
- The results justify further in vivo testing of brilacidin and similar mimetics as potential antifungal agents.

## Abstract

Natural host defensins, also sometimes termed antimicrobial peptides, are evolutionarily conserved. They have been studied as antimicrobials, but some pharmaceutical properties, undesirable for clinical use, have led to the development of synthetic molecules with constructed peptide arrangements and/or peptides not found in nature. The leading development currently is synthetic small-molecule nonpeptide mimetics, whose physical properties capture the characteristics of the natural molecules and share their biological attributes. We studied brilacidin, an arylamide of this type, for its activity in vitro against fungi (40 clinical isolates, 20 species) that the World Health Organization has highlighted as problem human pathogens. We found antifungal activity at low concentrations for many pathogens, which indicates that further screening for activity, particularly in vivo, is justified to evaluate this compound, and other mimetics, as attractive leads for the development of effective antifungal agents.