{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,19]],"date-time":"2026-03-19T10:43:05Z","timestamp":1773916985434,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,17]],"date-time":"2026-03-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773705600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003246","name":"Dutch Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["NWA.1292.19.354"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NWA.1292.19.354"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003246","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000780","name":"European Union","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["955664"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["955664"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000780","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JoF"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Candidozyma auris is an emerging opportunistic fungal pathogen that can cause serious catheter-related blood stream infections associated with high morbidity and mortality. The traditional antifungal treatment with polyenes, azoles or echinocandins is becoming less effective due to both intrinsic and developed resistance, complicating treatment. This study demonstrates the potent fungicidal activity of carboxyl-functionalized graphene quantum dots (cGQDs) against a panel of C. auris strains, spanning clades I to V, and a Candida albicans reference strain. Photoactivation of cGQDs in suspension with 435 nm blue light killed 99.9% of the fungi within 30 min even though the majority of test strains were resistant to at least one conventional antifungal. Moreover, cGQDs coated on flexible polydimethylsiloxane surfaces and commercial catheters via electrostatic layer-by-layer deposition with alternating positively charged polydiallyldimethylammonium polymer showed strong fungicidal activity against C. auris and C. albicans. These findings show that the cGQDs, both in suspension and in a thin film coating, have potential for future clinical development. In particular, their application to catheters may help prevent Candidozyma and Candida catheter-related infections.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jof12030216","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,17]],"date-time":"2026-03-17T14:03:27Z","timestamp":1773756207000},"page":"216","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A Carboxyl-Functionalized Graphene Quantum Dot Coating for Catheters Effective Against Emerging Drug-Resistant Candidozyma auris"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-2141-2573","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Laure S.","family":"van Hofwegen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention, Amsterdam Institute for Infection and Immunity, Amsterdam University Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7370-1981","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Muhammad","family":"Hassnain","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Science and Engineering, Ko\u00e7 University, 34450 \u0130stanbul, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Payal P. S.","family":"Balraadjsing","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention, Amsterdam Institute for Infection and Immunity, Amsterdam University Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2054-2857","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Karin","family":"van Dijk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention, Amsterdam Institute for Infection and Immunity, Amsterdam University Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ferry","family":"Hagen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Mycology, Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands"},{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands"},{"name":"Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sedat","family":"Nizamoglu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Science and Engineering, Ko\u00e7 University, 34450 \u0130stanbul, T\u00fcrkiye"},{"name":"Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Ko\u00e7 University, 34450 \u0130stanbul, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9589-186X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sebastian A. J.","family":"Zaat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention, Amsterdam Institute for Infection and Immunity, Amsterdam University Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3041","DOI":"10.21873\/invivo.13788","article-title":"Factors Associated with Mortality in Patients with Catheter-related Bloodstream Infection: A Multicenter Retrospective Study","volume":"38","author":"Futamura","year":"2024","journal-title":"In Vivo"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"O318","DOI":"10.1111\/1469-0691.12407","article-title":"Inpatient costs, mortality and 30-day re-admission in patients with central-line-associated bloodstream infections","volume":"20","author":"Stevens","year":"2014","journal-title":"Clin. 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