Netropsin (also termed congocidine or sinanomycin) is a
polyamide
A polyamide is a polymer with repeating units linked by amide bonds.
Polyamides occur both naturally and artificially. Examples of naturally occurring polyamides are proteins, such as wool and silk. Artificially made polyamides can be made through ...
with
antibiotic
An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention of ...
and
antiviral
Antiviral drugs are a class of medication used for treating viral infections. Most antivirals target specific viruses, while a broad-spectrum antiviral is effective against a wide range of viruses. Unlike most antibiotics, antiviral drugs do no ...
activity. Netropsin was discovered by Finlay ''et al.'', and first isolated from the
actinobacterium
The ''Actinomycetota'' (or ''Actinobacteria'') are a phylum of all gram-positive bacteria. They can be terrestrial or aquatic. They are of great economic importance to humans because agriculture and forests depend on their contributions to so ...
''
Streptomyces netropsis
''Streptomyces netropsis'' is a bacterium species from the genus of ''Streptomyces''. ''Streptomyces netropsis'' produces the antibiotics netropsin and distamycin A and the antifungal polyene mycoheptin.
Further reading
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''. It belongs to the class of pyrrole-amidine
antibiotics
An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention o ...
.
DNA binding properties
Netropsin binds to the
minor groove
Minor may refer to:
* Minor (law), a person under the age of certain legal activities.
** A person who has not reached the age of majority
* Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education
Music theory
* Minor chord
** Bar ...
of AT-rich sequences of double stranded
DNA. In contrast, netropsin does not bind single stranded DNA or double stranded RNA. Crystallographic structures of DNA-bound Netropsin have been obtained and elucidate details of how the drug binds in the minor groove. In the bound structure, the drug makes hydrogen bonding interactions with four subsequent base pairs of the DNA duplex, locally displacing the water molecules of the spine of hydration.
Using gel mobility and analytical ultracentrifugation, it was shown that Netropsin binding to DNA increases the twist per base by similar to 9˚ per molecule bound. Thus, it removes supercoils when interacting with positively supercoiled DNA and introduces (additional) negative supercoils when binding to relaxed or negatively supercoiled DNA. Netropsin's effect on supercoiled DNA was observed in detail on single molecules using a magnetic tweezers.
Antibiotic properties
It has been shown that Netropsin is active both against
Gram-positive bacteria
In bacteriology, gram-positive bacteria are bacteria that give a positive result in the Gram stain test, which is traditionally used to quickly classify bacteria into two broad categories according to their type of cell wall.
Gram-positive bact ...
and
Gram-negative bacteria.
[C. Zimmer and U. Wähnert, ''Prog. Biophys. Molec. Biol.'' 47 31-112 (1986)]
See also
*
Lexitropsin
*
Hoechst 33258
*
DAPI
*
Pentamidine
Pentamidine is an antimicrobial medication used to treat African trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, ''Balamuthia'' infections, babesiosis, and to prevent and treat pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) in people with poor immune function. In African trypano ...
*
DNA-binding protein
*
Single-strand binding protein
*
Comparison of nucleic acid simulation software
This is a list of notable computer programs that are used for nucleic acid
Nucleic acids are biopolymers, macromolecules, essential to all known forms of life. They are composed of nucleotides, which are the monomers made of three components: ...
References
{{Reflist
Amidines
Guanidines
Antibiotics
DNA-binding substances
Imidazoles