Patent ID: 6251955
Filing Date: 2001-06-26
Classification: C12Q

Abstract:
A method of treating an individual with a fungal infection comprising the steps of:a) culturing a mutant fungal strain, which contains a mutated gene whose presence in the mutant fungal strain together with inhibited chitin synthase III results in inhibited growth of the mutant fungal strain, in the presence of a compound to be assessed for its ability to inhibit fungal pathogenicity, under condition appropriate for growth of the mutant fungal strain;b) culturing the corresponding wild type fungal strain in the presence of the compound to be assessed for its ability to inhibit fungal pathogenicity under the same conditions as used in step (a);c) comparing the growth of the mutant fungal strain and the growth of the corresponding wild type fungal strain, wherein if growth of the mutant fungal strain is less than growth of the wild type fungal strain, the compound is identified as an inhibitor of fungal pathogenicity in the fungus in which chitin synthase III is necessary for pathogenicity;d) confirming the therapeutic effectiveness of the inhibitor of fungal pathogenicity in an appropriate animal model; ande) administering to an individual a therapeutically effective amount of the inhibitor of fungal pathogenicity identified in step c.