- Fu, Yue;
- Estoppey, David;
- Roggo, Silvio;
- Pistorius, Dominik;
- Fuchs, Florian;
- Studer, Christian;
- Ibrahim, Ashraf S;
- Aust, Thomas;
- Grandjean, Frederic;
- Mihalic, Manuel;
- Memmert, Klaus;
- Prindle, Vivian;
- Richard, Etienne;
- Riedl, Ralph;
- Schuierer, Sven;
- Weber, Eric;
- Hunziker, Jürg;
- Petersen, Frank;
- Tao, Jianshi;
- Hoepfner, Dominic
Biosynthesis of glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) is required for anchoring proteins to the plasma membrane, and is essential for the integrity of the fungal cell wall. Here, we use a reporter gene-based screen in Saccharomyces cerevisiae for the discovery of antifungal inhibitors of GPI-anchoring of proteins, and identify the oligocyclopropyl-containing natural product jawsamycin (FR-900848) as a potent hit. The compound targets the catalytic subunit Spt14 (also referred to as Gpi3) of the fungal UDP-glycosyltransferase, the first step in GPI biosynthesis, with good selectivity over the human functional homolog PIG-A. Jawsamycin displays antifungal activity in vitro against several pathogenic fungi including Mucorales, and in vivo in a mouse model of invasive pulmonary mucormycosis due to Rhyzopus delemar infection. Our results provide a starting point for the development of Spt14 inhibitors for treatment of invasive fungal infections.