Antifungal Persister Cell and Drug Tolerance Assay Services
We design assay modules around the scientific question, not a fixed susceptibility template. Each study can be configured for planktonic cells, mature biofilms, post-exposure survivors, or model-specific fungal states, with readouts selected to reveal whether a candidate simply delays growth or genuinely reduces drug-tolerant survival.
Time-Kill Curve Design and Survival Kinetics
Creative Biolabs establishes species- and strain-appropriate time-kill assays for Candida, Aspergillus, and other fungal pathogens as required by the program. We test drug exposure across selected multiples of MIC, collect time-point CFU or viability readouts, and distinguish rapid fungicidal activity from slow attrition, delayed regrowth, or plateau behavior. This module is especially useful when a compound looks active in endpoint susceptibility testing but its killing trajectory remains unclear.
Typical inputs
Candidate compound, reference antifungal, isolate panel, target exposure range, and current MIC or pilot susceptibility data.
Typical outputs
Log survival curves, kill-rate comparison, rebound flags, and interpretation notes for lead triage.
Persister Quantification
Persister-enriched assays quantify the surviving fraction after high-dose or prolonged antifungal challenge. Depending on the model, we can evaluate biofilm-associated persisters, amphotericin B-tolerant survivors, azole-tolerant subpopulations, and post-treatment regrowth behavior using CFU recovery, viability staining, metabolic readouts, or microscopy-supported confirmation.
Drug Tolerance Indexing
We convert slow-growth or survivor signals into decision-friendly tolerance metrics, including persistence fraction, area-under-kill-curve comparisons, tolerance index summaries, and isolate-to-isolate ranking when panels are tested.
Combination Rescue Studies
For combination strategies, we compare single-agent and paired-drug exposure to identify rescue of killing activity, reduced tolerant outgrowth, and mechanistic clues for synergy follow-up. Designs can be aligned with antifungal MoA hypotheses.
Biofilm and Stress-State Models
When relevant, assays are adapted to biofilm maturity, nutrient stress, oxygen conditions, matrix-associated protection, or post-exposure recovery windows so that tolerance readouts better reflect the program's biological question.
