Fungal infection poses a severe threat to human health worldwide resulting in a serious problem in clinic. Due to the limited arsenal of existing antifungal drugs, the nanomaterials were thus regarded as the candidate for developing new antifungal drugs. On the one hand, the antifungal nanomaterials are divided into inorganic nanomaterials, organic nanomaterials, and hybrid nanomaterials, among which inorganic nanoparticles include metal and semiconducting categories. On the other hand, they can also be divided into inorganic particles, organic structures, and mixed nanostructures. Currently various directions for the research and development of antifungal nanomaterials are undergoing. To improve the antifungal effect, the chemical modification of nanomaterials and combination with the available drugs are two strategies widely used. In addition, optimizing the synthetic process of nanomaterials is also a major method to broaden their antifungal application. This review focuses on the current research progress and cutting-edge technologies of antifungal nanomaterials in the field of pharmacodynamics, synthesis and combination of drugs. The nanomaterial will provide a promising and broadly effective antifungal strategy and represent a potentially repositionable candidate for the treatment of fungal infections.

Biofilm formation is a critical event in the pathogenesis and virulence of fungal infections caused by Candida albicans, giving rise to about a 1000-fold increase in the resistance to antifungal agents. Although photodynamic treatment (PDT) has been excellently implicated in bacterial infections, studies on its potential against fungal infection through the clearance of fungal biofilm formation remain at its infancy stage. Here, we have designed photodynamic nanoparticles with different sizes, modifications, and the ability of generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) to examine their effects on inhibiting biofilm formation and destructing mature biofilms of C. albicans. We found that the nanoparticles modified with oligo-chitosan exhibited a better binding efficiency for planktonic cells, leading to stronger inhibitory efficacy of the filamentation and the early-stage biofilm formation. However, for mature biofilms, the nanoparticles with the smallest size (∼15 nm) showed the fastest penetration speed and a pronounced destructing effect albeit conferring the lowest ROS-producing capability. The inhibitory effect of photodynamic nanoparticles was dependent on the disruption of fungal quorum sensing (QS) by the upregulation of QS molecules, farnesol and tyrosol, mediated through the upregulation of ARO 8 and DPP 3 expression. Our findings provide a powerful strategy of nanoparticulate PDT to combat fungal infections through the inhibition of both hyphal and biofilm formation by disrupting QS.