Due to the apparent similarity of fungal and mammalian metabolic pathways, the number of established antifungal targets is low, and the identification of novel ones is highly desirable. The results of our studies, presented in this work, indicate that the fungal biosynthetic pathway of L-methionine, an amino acid essential for humans, seems to be an attractive perspective. The MET2 gene from Candida albicans encoding L-homoserine...

Fungal infections are a serious threat to public health as they are becoming increasingly frequent. A major problem stems also from a rising fungal resistance to currently available antifungal therapies, therefore novel molecular targets are highly desirable. Exploration of enzymes participating in the biosynthesis pathways of essential amino acids such as L-methionine (L-Met) may provide new insights into pharmaceutical development....

Fungal pathways of essential amino acids biosynthesis provide an abundant source of molecular targets for new antifungal compounds, among which the L-methionine biosynthesis pathway (MBP) may be promising. In this dissertation I characterized three C. albicans enzymes involved in MBP: homoserine O-acetyltransferase (CaMet2p), O-acetyl-L-homoserine sulfhydrylase (CaMet15p), and cystathionine-γ-synthase (CaStr2p). I performed crystallization...

The antifungal activity of 5‐hydroxy‐4‐oxo‐L‐norvaline (HONV), exhibited under conditions mimicking human serum, may be improved upon incorporation of this amino acid into a dipeptide structure. Several HONV‐containing dipeptides inhibited growth of human pathogenic yeasts of the Candida genus in the RPMI‐1640 medium, with minimal inhibitory concentration values in the 32 to 64 μg mL−1 range. This activity was not affected by multidrug...

Czosnek w trakcie procesu obróbki traci znaczną część swojej bioaktywności. Właściwości przeciwutleniające zmierzone metodą FRAP i DPPH stwierdzono na najwyższym poziomie w przypadku czosnku surowego oraz po krótkim okresie gotowania. Badania na szczurach poddanych diecie z dodatkiem krótkogotowanego czosnku potwierdziły, że proces ten nie zaburza właściwości przeciwutleniających surowego czosnku. U zwierząt stwierdzono poprawę...