![\"Photo:](\"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2026\/07\/MAD_research-fungal-infectins_iStock-1493135014-1200x800-1.jpg\")
<\/a>A multidisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison has identified a promising new therapeutic candidate against Candida auris<\/em>, an emerging fungal pathogen that has alarmed health officials worldwide because of its ability to resist multiple antifungal drugs and spread rapidly through hospitals and care facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s a global public health threat,\u201d says Jeniel Nett<\/a>, a professor in the Department of Medicine at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. \u201cCandida auris <\/em>is the first fungus to spread in hospitals and cause serious disease.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n With funding from the National Institutes of Health, Nett led a team that closely studied the yeast in search of any weaknesses that could be exploited in the fight against it. The need is urgent; there are three major classes of antifungal drugs, and certain strains of Candida auris<\/em> are resistant to all three of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the fungus\u2019s presence on skin isn\u2019t itself life-threatening, there are many opportunities for internal exposure \u2014 whether through surgery, a catheter or other medical devices \u2014 where it can pose grave danger. Between 30 to 60% of patients who develop a Candida auris<\/em> infection die, usually due to sepsis after the fungus enters their bloodstream after getting inside the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most Candida auris<\/em> infections respond to an intravenous medication that\u2019s available, but even that is showing signs of vulnerability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere have been reports of Candida <\/em>strains developing resistance to that, leading to a very serious infection,\u201d says Nett.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Studying both synthetic conditions and human skin, Nett and her colleagues sought to learn everything they could about what Candida auris<\/em> needs to colonize skin. The idea is that finding a way to short-circuit the skin colonization process could prevent possible infections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The team identified potassium as essential to the growth of the fungus. Further, they constructed all kinds of mutant versions of Candida auris,<\/em> with various genes deleted, and discovered that the elimination of a single gene was enough to stop the fungus from growing. The gene, called TRK1<\/em>, controls a protein by the same name that transports the potassium required for Candida auris<\/em> to grow and colonize skin and other surfaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n