
AbstractNowadays, the widespread diffusion of infections caused by opportunistic fungi represents a demanding threat for global health security. This phenomenon has also worsened by the emergence of contagious events in hospitalisation environments and by the fact that many fungi have developed harsh and serious resistance mechanisms to the traditional antimycotic drugs. Hence, the design of novel antifungal agents is a key factor to counteract mycotic infections and resistance. Within this context, nanomaterials are gaining increasing attention thanks to their biocidal character. Among these, carbon dots (CDs) represent a class of zero‐dimensional, photoluminescent and quasi‐spherical nanoparticles which, for their great and tuneable features, have found applications in catalysis, sensing and biomedicine. Nevertheless, only a few works define and recapitulate their antifungal properties. Therefore, we aim to give an overview about the recent advances in the synthesis of CDs active against infective fungi. We described the general features of CDs and fungal cells, by highlighting some of the most common antimycotic mechanisms. Then, we evaluated the effects of CDs, antimicrobial drugs‐loaded CDs and CDs‐incorporated packaging systems on different fungi and analysed the use of CDs as fluorescent nano‐trackers for bioimaging, showing, to all effects, their promising application as antifungal agents.
Antifungal Agents, Quantum Dots, Fungi, Humans, antifungal; antimycotic; bioimaging; carbon dots; protective food packaging, Microbial Sensitivity Tests, Carbon, Nanostructures
Antifungal Agents, Quantum Dots, Fungi, Humans, antifungal; antimycotic; bioimaging; carbon dots; protective food packaging, Microbial Sensitivity Tests, Carbon, Nanostructures
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 20 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Average | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% |
