Antifungal effect of 4-arylthiosemicarbazides against Candida species. Search for molecular basis of antifungal activity of thiosemicarbazide derivatives

The in vitro antifungal potency of six series of 4-arylthiosemicarbazides was evaluated. Two isoquinoline derivatives with an ortho-methoxy or ortho-methyl group at the phenyl ring were the most potent antifungal agents. Molecular modeling studies and docking of all 4-arylthiosemicarbazides into the active sites of sterol 14α-demethylase (CYP51), topoisomerase II (topo II), l-glutamine: d-fructose-6-phosphate amidotransferase (GlcN-6-P), secreted aspartic proteinase (SAP), N-myristoyltransferase (NMT), and UDP-N-acetylmuramoyl-l-alanine:d-glutamate ligase (MurD) indicated the importance of both structural and electronic factors in ligand recognition and thus for the antifungal effectiveness of 4-arylthiosemicarbazides. A possible antifungal target was identified (NMT) and isoquinoline-thiosemicarbazides showed more favorable affinity than the native ligand. [Figure: see text] ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00894-012-1420-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.