Table 2.

Biochemical pathways of Aspergillus species targeted for therapy

Name of the fungus	Biochemical pathway	Important role	+/− in humans	Current drugs	Limitations
A. fumigatus, C. neoformans	Ergosterol biosynthesis	Integral part of cell membranes	−ve	Amphotericin B, azoles, Echinocandins	Acts also on cholesterols, due to structural similarity
A. fumigatus	Methyl citrate cycle	For degradation of toxic propionyl-CoA	−ve		–
A. fumigatus, C. albicans, S. cerevisiae, C. neoformans	Glyoxylate pathway	Serve as carbon sources in gluconeogenesis from fat	−ve		Not essential for survival
A. fumigatus, C. neoformans	Lysine biosynthesis	Essential amino acid	−ve		Lysine biosynthesis may not be required for invasive growth
A. fumigatus, S. cerevisiae	Trehalose biosynthesis	Reserve carbohydrate source	−ve		Virulence mechanism not known clearly
A. fumigatus, C. neoformans	Melanin biosynthesis	Conidial pigment and virulent factor	−ve		Not essential for survival