Berberine reverses multidrug resistance in Candida albicans by hijacking the drug efflux pump Mdr1p

Clinical use of antimicrobials faces great challenges from the emergence of multidrug-resistant pathogens. The overexpression of drug efflux pumps is one of the major contributors to multidrug resistance (MDR). Reversing the function of drug efflux pumps is a promising approach to overcome MDR. In the life-threatening fungal pathogen Candida albicans, the major facilitator superfamily (MFS) transporter Mdr1p can excrete many structurally unrelated antifungals, leading to MDR. Here we report a counterintuitive case of reversing MDR in C. albicans by using a natural product berberine to hijack the overexpressed Mdr1p for its own importation. Moreover, we illustrate that the imported berberine accumulates in mitochondria and compromises the mitochondrial function by impairing mitochondrial membrane potential and mitochondrial Complex I. This results in the selective elimination of Mdr1p overexpressed C. albicans cells. Furthermore, we show that berberine treatment can prolong the mean survival time of mice with blood-borne dissemination of Mdr1p overexpressed multidrug-resistant candidiasis. This study provides a potential direction of novel anti-MDR drug discovery by screening for multidrug efflux pump converters. (c) 2020 Science China Press. Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science China Press. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

This study reveals a novel approach of reversing multidrug resistance in Candida albicans by using berberine to exploit the overexpressed drug efflux pump Mdr1p for its own transport, leading to compromised mitochondrial function and selective elimination of multidrug-resistant cells. Berberine treatment prolonged the survival time of mice with Mdr1p overexpressed candidiasis, suggesting a potential direction for anti-MDR drug discovery.