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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1972 May;69(5):1287–1289. doi: 10.1073/pnas.69.5.1287

Inhibition of Sterol Biosynthesis by Bacitracin

K John Stone 1,*, Jack L Strominger 1,†
PMCID: PMC426683  PMID: 4338587

Abstract

Bacitracin is an inhibitor of the biosynthesis of squalene and sterols from mevalonic acid, C5-isopentenyl pyrophosphate, or C15-farnesyl pyrophosphate catalyzed by preparations from rat liver. The antibiotic is active at extremely low ratios of antibiotic to substrate. The mechanism of inhibition appears to be the formation of a complex between bacitracin, divalent cation, and C15-farnesyl pyrophosphate and other isoprenyl pyrophosphates. It is similar to the formation of the complex with C55-isopropenyl pyrophosphate in microbial systems. The toxicity of bacitracin for animal cells could be due in part to the formation of these complexes.

Keywords: mevalonic acid, C5-isopentenyl pyrophosphate, C15-farnesyl pyrophosphate

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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