Nystatin is a fungicidal and fungistatic polyene antifungal and growth promoter. It functions by accumulating cholesterol and thereby sequesters lipid from cell membranes. It can be used in quantum dot research, since cholesterol depletion could block several lipid raft-dependent endocytic pathways. It was discoveed in 1950 by Rachel Fuller Brown and Elizabeth Lee Hazen and was the first polyene macrolide antifungal, named after New York State.