Teicoplanin is an antibiotic used in the prophylaxis and treatment of serious infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis. It is a semisynthetic glycopeptide antibiotic with a spectrum of activity similar to vancomycin. Its mechanism of action is to inhibit bacterial cell wall synthesis.
Antimycins are produced as secondary metabolites by Streptomyces bacteria, a soil bacteria. These specialized metabolites likely function to kill neighboring organisms in order to provide the streptomyces bacteria with a competitive edge.
Nonribosomal peptides (NRP) are a class of peptide secondary metabolites, usually produced by microorganisms like bacteria and fungi. Nonribosomal peptides are also found in higher organisms, such as nudibranchs, but are thought to be made by bacteria inside these organisms. While there exist a wide range of peptides that are not synthesized by ribosomes, the term nonribosomal peptide typically refers to a very specific set of these as discussed in this article.
Daptomycin, sold under the brand name Cubicin among others, is a lipopeptide antibiotic used in the treatment of systemic and life-threatening infections caused by Gram-positive organisms.
Viomycin is a member of the tuberactinomycin family, a group of nonribosomal peptide antibiotics exhibiting anti-tuberculosis activity. The tuberactinomycin family is an essential component in the drug cocktail currently used to fight infections of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Viomycin was the first member of the tuberactinomycins to be isolated and identified, and was used to treat TB until it was replaced by the less toxic, but structurally related compound, capreomycin. The tuberactinomycins target bacterial ribosomes, binding RNA and disrupting bacterial protein synthesis and certain forms of RNA splicing. Viomycin is produced by the actinomycete Streptomyces puniceus.
Tyrocidine is a mixture of cyclic decapeptides produced by the bacteria Bacillus brevis found in soil. It can be composed of 4 different amino acid sequences, giving tyrocidine A–D. Tyrocidine is the major constituent of tyrothricin, which also contains gramicidin. Tyrocidine was the first commercially available antibiotic, but has been found to be toxic toward human blood and reproductive cells. The function of tyrocidine within its host B. brevis is thought to be regulation of sporulation.
Polyketide synthases (PKSs) are a family of multi-domain enzymes or enzyme complexes that produce polyketides, a large class of secondary metabolites, in bacteria, fungi, plants, and a few animal lineages. The biosyntheses of polyketides share striking similarities with fatty acid biosynthesis.
Doxorubicin (DXR) is a 14-hydroxylated version of daunorubicin, the immediate precursor of DXR in its biosynthetic pathway. Daunorubicin is more abundantly found as a natural product because it is produced by a number of different wild type strains of streptomyces. In contrast, only one known non-wild type species, streptomyces peucetius subspecies caesius ATCC 27952, was initially found to be capable of producing the more widely used doxorubicin. This strain was created by Arcamone et al. in 1969 by mutating a strain producing daunorubicin, but not DXR, at least in detectable quantities. Subsequently, Hutchinson's group showed that under special environmental conditions, or by the introduction of genetic modifications, other strains of streptomyces can produce doxorubicin. His group has also cloned many of the genes required for DXR production, although not all of them have been fully characterized. In 1996, Strohl's group discovered, isolated and characterized dox A, the gene encoding the enzyme that converts daunorubicin into DXR. By 1999, they produced recombinant Dox A, a Cytochrome P450 oxidase, and found that it catalyzes multiple steps in DXR biosynthesis, including steps leading to daunorubicin. This was significant because it became clear that all daunorubicin producing strains have the necessary genes to produce DXR, the much more therapeutically important of the two. Hutchinson's group went on to develop methods to improve the yield of DXR, from the fermentation process used in its commercial production, not only by introducing Dox A encoding plasmids, but also by introducing mutations to deactivate enzymes that shunt DXR precursors to less useful products, for example baumycin-like glycosides. Some triple mutants, that also over-expressed Dox A, were able to double the yield of DXR. This is of more than academic interest because at that time DXR cost about $1.37 million per kg and current production in 1999 was 225 kg per annum. More efficient production techniques have brought the price down to $1.1 million per kg for the non-liposomal formulation. Although DXR can be produced semi-synthetically from daunorubicin, the process involves electrophilic bromination and multiple steps and the yield is poor. Since daunorubicin is produced by fermentation, it would be ideal if the bacteria could complete DXR synthesis more effectively.
Streptogramin A is a group of antibiotics within the larger family of antibiotics known as streptogramins. They are synthesized by the bacteria Streptomyces virginiae. The streptogramin family of antibiotics consists of two distinct groups: group A antibiotics contain a 23-membered unsaturated ring with lactone and peptide bonds while group B antibiotics are depsipeptides. While structurally different, these two groups of antibiotics act synergistically, providing greater antibiotic activity than the combined activity of the separate components. These antibiotics have until recently been commercially manufactured as feed additives in agriculture, although today there is increased interest in their ability to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria, particularly vancomycin-resistant bacteria.
Streptogramin B is a subgroup of the streptogramin antibiotics family. These natural products are cyclic hexa- or hepta depsipeptides produced by various members of the genus of bacteria Streptomyces. Many of the members of the streptogramins reported in the literature have the same structure and different names; for example, pristinamycin IA = vernamycin Bα = mikamycin B = osteogrycin B.
Lyngbyatoxin-a is a cyanotoxin produced by certain cyanobacteria species, most notably Moorea producens. It is produced as defense mechanism to ward off any would-be predators of the bacterium, being a potent blister agent as well as carcinogen. Low concentrations cause a common skin condition known as seaweed dermatitis.
Apratoxin A - is a cyanobacterial secondary metabolite, known as a potent cytotoxic marine natural product. It is a derivative of the Apratoxin family of cytotoxins. The mixed peptide-polyketide natural product comes from a polyketide synthase/non-ribosomal peptide synthase pathway (PKS/NRPS). This cytotoxin is known for inducing G1-phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. This natural product's activity has made it a popular target for developing anticancer derivatives.
Cereulide is a toxin produced by some strains of Bacillus cereus, Bacillus megaterium and related species. It is a potent cytotoxin that destroys mitochondria. It also causes nausea and vomiting.
Tirandamycins are a small group of natural products that contain a bicyclic ketal system and a tetramic acid moiety, the latter of which is found in different natural products from a variety of sources and which is characterized by a 2,4-pyrrolidinedione ring system. Members of this structural family have shown a wide range of biological activities like in antiparasitic, antifungal and anti-HIV evaluations, and furthermore, have shown potential usefulness because of their potent antibacterial properties. Streptolydigin, an analogue of the tirandamycins, is known to function as an antibacterial agent through inhibiting the chain initiation and elongation steps RNA polymerase transcription. The structural diversity in the tirandamycin family originates from the different oxidation patterns observed in the bicycic ketal system, and these modifications are determinant features for the bioactivity associated with these molecules.
Cyanopeptolins (CPs) are a class of oligopeptides produced by Microcystis and Planktothrix algae strains, and can be neurotoxic. The production of cyanopeptolins occurs through nonribosomal peptides synthases (NRPS).
Curacin A is a hybrid polyketide synthase (PKS)/nonribosomal peptide synthase (NRPS) derived natural product produced isolated from the cyanobacterium Lyngbya majuscula. Curacin A belongs to a family of natural products including jamaicamide, mupirocin, and pederin that have an unusual terminal alkene. Additionally, Curacin A contains a notable thiazoline ring and a unique cyclopropyl moiety, which is essential to the compound's biological activity. Curacin A has been characterized as potent antiproliferative cytotoxic compound with notable anticancer activity for several cancer lines including renal, colon, and breast cancer. Curacin A has been shown to interact with colchicine binding sites on tubulin, which inhibits microtubule polymerization, an essential process for cell division and proliferation.
Chloroeremomycin is a member of the glycopeptide family of antibiotics, such as vancomycin. The molecule is a non-ribosomal polypeptide that has been glycosylated. It is composed of seven amino acids and three saccharide units. Although chloroeremomycin has never been in clinical phases, oritavancin, a semi-synthetic derivative of chloroeremomycin, has been investigated.
Phoslactomycin (PLM) is a natural product from the isolation of Streptomyces species. This is an inhibitor of the protein serine/threonine phosphatase which is the protein phosphate 2A (PP2A). The PP2A involves the growth factor of the cell such as to induce the formation of mitogen-activated protein interaction and playing a role in cell division and signal transduction. Therefore, PLM is used for the drug that prevents the tumor, cancer, or bacteria. There are nowsaday has 7 kinds of different PLM from PLM A to PLM G which differ the post-synthesis from the biosynthesis of PLM.
Jamaicamide A is a lipopeptide isolated from the cyanobacterium Moorea producens, formerly known as Lyngbya majuscula. Jamaicamide A belongs to a family of compounds collectively called jamaicamides, which are sodium channel blockers with potent neurotoxicity in a cellular model. Jamaicamide A has several unusual functionalities, including an alkynyl bromide, vinyl chloride, β-methoxy eneone system, and pyrrolinone ring.
Lyngbyastatins 1 and 3 are cytotoxic cyclic depsipeptides that possess antiproliferative activity against human cancer cell lines. These compounds, first isolated from the extract of a Lyngbya majuscula/Schizothrix calcicola assemblage and from L. majuscula Harvey ex Gomont (Oscillatoriaceae) strains, respectively, target the actin cytoskeleton of eukaryotic cells.
