Gram-positive bacteria cell wall

Vancomycin Vancomycin Inhibits synthesis of cell-wall Gram-positive bacteria, especially for... 

The cells of Gram-positive bacteria have an outer covering or membrane containing teichoic acids, whereas the walls of Gram-negative bacteria are covered with a smooth, soft lipopolysaccharide which also contains phospholipids, lipoproteins, and proteins. This layer acts a barrier and penicillins have to negotiate a limited number of protein channels in order to reach the cell. 

Vancomycin (Vancocin) acts against susceptible gram-positive bacteria by inhibiting bacterial cell wall synthesis and increasing cell wall permeability. This drug is used in the treatment of serious gram-positive infections that do not respond to treatment with other anti-infectives. It also may be used in treating anti-infective-associated pseudomembranous colitis caused by Clostridium difficile. 

The major type-specific antigens of Gram-positive bacteria are the teichoic acid moieties associated with the cell wall (see Chapter 1). 

Recent results indicate that not only topogenic signals and membrane composition contribute to the proper topology of a membrane protein. The antimicrobial peptide nisin, produced by Lactococcus lactis, kills Gram-positive bacteria via pore formation, thus leading to the permeabilisation of the membrane. Nisin depends on the cell-wall precursor Lipid II, which functions as a docking molecule to support a perpendicular stable transmembrane orientation [43]. 

Navarre, W. W. and Schneewind, O. (1999). Surface proteins of gram-positive bacteria and mechanisms of their targeting to the cell wall envelope, Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev., 63, 174-229. 

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