Fungal Virulence Factors Datasets for IBD-Specific Antifungal Drug Discovery

Fungi are closely associated with various diseases, with Candida albicans (C. albicans) recognized as an important pathogenic fungus in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Fungal pathogenicity is primarily mediated by virulence factors, therefore, comprehensive identification of fungal virulence factors is critical for targeted drug development and disease treatment. However, current databases contain limited numbers of fungal virulence factors, lack effective predictive algorithms, and do not directly provide protein structural information relevant for drug discovery. In this study, we constructed a positive dataset comprising 18,072 fungal virulence factors. Utilizing machine learning approaches, we further predicted and identified 390 potential virulence factors from 8,081 representative protein sequences across the proteomes of 99 C. albicans strains, generating a dedicated C. albicans virulence factor dataset. Additionally, five IBD-associated pathogenic virulence factors were identified, and their protein structural data included in the dataset were leveraged to facilitate small-molecule compound screening. Collectively, this study provides a comprehensive data resource and theoretical foundation for the identification of fungal virulence factors and the development of related therapeutics.