Erythromycin, protein synthesis inhibition

The macrolide erythromycin inhibits protein synthesis and resistance is induced by N -dimethyl-ation of adenine within the 23S rRNA, which results in reduced affinity of ribosomes for antibiotics related to erythromcin (Skinner et al. 1983). Sulfonamides function by binding tightly to chromosomal dihydropteroate synthetase and resistance to sulfonamides is developed in the resistance plasmid through a form of the enzyme that is resistant to the effect of sulfonamides. 

Macrolides Erythromycin Inhibits protein synthesis by binding Gram-positive cocci, mycoplasma,... 

Inhibition of protein synthesis in microorganisms (aminoglycosides, erythromycin, clindamycin, chloramphenicol, and tetracyclines). 

Macrolides, both erythromycin and others, inhibit the synthesis of bacterial proteins. The primary mechanisms of protein synthesis are identical in humans and bacteria. However, there is a significant difference that allows a specific antibiotic to exhibit selective toxicity with respect to bacteria. 

Erythromycin inhibits bacterial protein synthesis by reversibly binding with their 50 S ribosomal subunit, thus blocking the formation of new peptide bonds. Erythromycin is classified as a bacteriostatic antibiotic. 

Anandatheerthavarada, H.K. etal. (1999) Physiological role of the N-terminal processed P4501A1 targeted to mitochondria in erythromycin metabolism and reversal of erythromycin-mediated inhibition of mitochondrial protein synthesis./oumoi of Biological Chemistry, 274 (10), 6617-6625. 

Clindamycin is a chlorine-substituted derivative of lincomycin. However it is more potent and is better absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and has therefore replaced lincomycin in most situations. Clindamycin is in principle a bacteriostatic agent. Its indications are mainly limited to mixed anaerobic infections. As mentioned above it has a similar mechanism of action as erythromycin. It selectively inhibits bacterial protein synthesis by binding to the same 50s ribosomal subunits. Erythromycin and clindamycin can interfere with each other by competing for this receptor. Also cross-resistance with erythromycin frequently occurs. Resistance is rather chromosomal rather than plasmid mediated and is especially found in cocci and Clostridium difficile. 

Macrolides bind to the SOS ribosomal subunit of bacteria but not to the SOS mammalian ribosome this accounts for its selective toxicity. Binding to the ribosome occurs at a site near peptidyltransferase, with a resultant inhibition of translocation, peptide bond formation, and release of oligopeptidyl tRNA. However, unlike chloramphenicol, the macrolides do not inhibit protein synthesis by intact mitochondria, and this suggests that the mitochondrial membrane is not permeable to erythromycin. 

The lincosamide family of antibiotics includes lin-comycin (Lincocin) and clindamycin (Cleocin), both of which inhibit protein synthesis. They bind to the SOS ri-bosomal subunit at a binding site close to or overlapping the binding sites for chloramphenicol and erythromycin. They block peptide bond formation by interference at either the A or P site on the ribosome. Lincomycin is no longer available for human use in the United States. 

It is mainly bacteriostatic and inhibits the growth of gram positive organisms which includes staphylococci, streptococci, pneumococci, C. diphtheriae and B. anthracis. Like erythromycin it act by interfering with protein synthesis. 

The antibacterial action of erythromycin may be inhibitory or bactericidal, particularly at higher concentrations, for susceptible organisms. Activity is enhanced at alkaline pH. Inhibition of protein synthesis occurs via binding to the 50S ribosomal RNA. Protein synthesis is inhibited because aminoacyl translocation reactions and the formation of initiation complexes are blocked (Figure 44-... 

Like tetracyclines, macrolides are also polyketides that are isolated from bacteria and inhibit protein synthesis in certain bacteria. Erythromycin (A.32) is the original macrolide (Figure A.9). Clarithromycin (Biaxin, A.33) and azithromycin (Zithromax, A.34) are semisynthetic derivatives of erythromycin. 

There are a number of sites within the sequence of protein synthesis where antibiotics can act. These include (1) inhibition of the attachment of mRNA to 30S ribosomes by aminoglycosides (2) inhibition of tRNA binding to 30S ribosomes by tetracyclines (3) inhibition of the attachment of mRNA to the 50S ribosome by chloramphenicol and (4) erythromycin inhibition of the translocation step by binding to 50S ribosomes, thus preventing newly synthesized peptidyl tRNA moving from the acceptor to the donor site. 

Cethromycin (ABT-773) 39 (Advanced Life Sciences) had an NDA filed in October 2008 for the treatment of CAP.67 Advanced Life Sciences is also evaluating cethromycin 39 against other respiratory tract infections and in pre-clinical studies as a prophylactic treatment of anthrax post-exposure. Cethromycin 3968 70 is a semi-synthetic ketolide derivative of erythromycin 4071 originally synthesised by Abbott Laboratories,72 which like erythromycin 40, inhibits bacterial protein synthesis through binding to the peptidyl-transferase site of the bacterial 50S ribosomal subunit. Important macrolide antibiotics in clinical use today include erythromycin 40 itself, clarithromycin, azithromycin and, most recently, telithromycin (launched in 2001). 

D. Treatment of bacterial infections Antibiotics that selectively affect bacterial function and have minimal side effects in humans are usually selected to treat bacterial infections. Rifampicin, which inhibits the initiation of prokaryotic RNA synthesis, is used to treat tuberculosis. Streptomycin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, and erythromycin inhibit protein synthesis on prokaiyotic ribosomes and are used for many infections. Chloramphenicol affects mitochondrial ribosomes and must be used with caution. 

Erythromycin is indicated for the treatment of infections caused by erythromycin susceptible bacteria. The drug binds to the 50 S ribosomal subunit inhibiting bacterial RNA-dependent protein synthesis. Susceptible bacteria include most Gram-positive bacteria and the atypical pathogens. 

Examples of antibiotics that attack bacteria by inhibiting protein synthesis at the ribosomal level include the following tetracycline antibiotics (e.g. chlortetracycline) aminoglycoside antibiotics (e.g. neomycin, streptomycin) macrolide antibiotics (e.g. erythromycin, clarithromycin, azithromycin) also chloramphenicol, fusidic acid and lincosamides (e.g. clindamycin). 

Erythromycin is the antibiotic of choice when treating respiratory tract infections in legionnaire s disease, whooping cough, and Mycoplasma-based pneumonia because of its ability to inhibit protein synthesis in certain bacteria by... 

The answer is c. (Murray, pp 452-467. Scriver, pp 3-45. Sack, pp 1-40. Wilson, pp 101-120.) In a general sense, the mechanism of protein synthesis in eukaryotic cells is similar to that found in prokaryotes however, there are significant differences. Cycloheximide inhibits elongation of proteins in eukaryotes, while erythromycin causes the same effect in prokaryotes. Thus, one is an antibiotic beneficial to humans, while the other is a poison. Cytoplasmic ribosomes of eukaryotes are larger, sedimenting at SOS instead of 70S. While eukaryotic cells utilize a specific tRNA for initiation, it is not formylated as in bacteria. Finally, eukaryotic mRNA always specifies only one polypeptide, as opposed to prokaryotic mRNA, which may specify the synthesis of more than one gene product per mRNA. 

Macrolides inhibit growth of bacteria by inhibiting protein synthesis on ribosomes (17,415,416). Bacterial resistance to macrolides is often accompanied by cross-resistance to lincosamide and streptogramin B antibiotics (MLS-resistance), which can be either inducible or constitutive (417). 14-Membered macrolides generally induce resistance to themselves, whereas 16-membered macrolides do not consequendy, one advantage of the latter is their activity against bacteria which are inducibly resistant to erythromycin. Both 14- and 16-membered macrolides lack activity against constitutively resistant strains (387,388). 

Erythromycin, naturally produced by Saccharopolyspora erythraea, is among the most widely used antibiotics. It acts through the inhibition of protein synthesis by binding to the 508 ribosomal subunit [2]. The tetracycline antibiotics are produced by a number of Streptomyces organisms, and inhibit bacterial protein synthesis by preventing aminoacyl-tRNA association with the bacterial ribosome [3]. The epothilones, isolated from Sorangium cellu-losum, are potential anti-cancer agents with the same mechanism of action as taxol, the stabilization of microtubules that leads to the arrest of cell division and ultimately cell death [4, 5]. Doxorubicin, isolated from Streptomyces peucetius, is a cytotoxic molecule that has been used for the treatment... 

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