%0 Journal Article
%T All hands on Dec: Treating cryptococcosis with dectin decorated liposomes loaded with antifungals.
%A Pham T
%A Shi R
%A Ambati S
%A Meagher R
%A Lin X
%J iScience
%V 27
%N 7
%D 2024 Jul 19
%M 39055951
%F 6.107
%R 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110349
%X Systemic cryptococcosis is often fatal even with the current antifungal therapy and there is no vaccine available. Induction therapy with amphotericin B (AmB) is essential for its treatment, which can be either in the form of AmB deoxycholate at 1 mg/kg/day for 7 days or a single dose of liposomal AmB (AmB-LLs) at 10 mg/kg, both in combination with flucytosine. AmB is highly toxic and it is imperative to further increase its efficacy without increasing its toxicity. Previously, we developed a targeted antifungal drug delivery system (DectiSome) that uses liposomes decorated with host-pathogen receptor dectins to target AmB to fungal cells. Here, we showed that a single dose of Dectin-2 coated liposomal AmB, relative to AmB-LLs, reduced fungal burden and prolonged animal survival in the murine model of systemic cryptococcosis. Our results demonstrate that DectiSomes are a promising antifungal delivery system that could improve cryptococcosis therapy in the future.