Recent advances in the study of new antifungal lead compounds

In recent years, the incidence and mortality rate of invasive fungal infection have increased   dramatically, and it is of great significance to develop novel antifungal agents with new chemical structure and new mode of action.  In this review, novel antifungal lead compounds reported from 2007 to 2009 are reviewed.  Moreover, their chemical structures, antifungal activities and structure-activity relationships have been summarized, which can provide useful information for future study of antifungal agents.