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Throwing a spanner in the works: antibiotics and the translation apparatus

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Abstract

The protein synthetic machinery is essential to all living cells and is one of the major targets for antibiotics. Knowledge of the structure and function of the ribosome and its associated factors is key to understanding the mechanism of drug action. Conversely, drugs have been used as tools to probe the translation cycle, thus providing a means to further our understanding of the steps that lead to protein synthesis. Our current understanding as to how antibiotics disrupt this process is reviewed here, with particular emphasis on the prokaryotic elongation cycle and those drugs that interact with ribosomal RNAs.

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Abbreviations

EF :

Elongation factor

IF :

Initiation factor

RF :

Termination/release factor

MLS B :

Macrolide, lincomycin, and streptogramin B antibiotics

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max Planck Institut für Molekulare Genetik, AG Ribosomen, Ihnestrasse 73, D-14195, Berlin, Germany

    C. M. T. Spahn

  2. SmithKline Beecham, Office 1-3914, 1250 South Collegeville Road, P.O. Box 5089, 19426-0989, Collegeville, PA, USA

    C. D. Prescott

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  1. C. M. T. Spahn
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Spahn, C.M.T., Prescott, C.D. Throwing a spanner in the works: antibiotics and the translation apparatus. J Mol Med 74, 423–439 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00217518

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