A nucleic acid inhibitor is a type of antibacterial that acts by inhibiting the production of

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: a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base. The two main cl ...

s. There are two major classes: DNA inhibitors and RNA inhibitors. The

antifungal An antifungal medication, also known as an antimycotic medication, is a pharmaceutical fungicide or fungistatic used to treat and prevent mycosis such as athlete's foot, ringworm, candidiasis (thrush), serious systemic infections such as crypto ...

flucytosine acts in a similar manner.

DNA inhibitors

Classic DNA inhibitors such as the quinolones act upon DNA gyrase as a topoisomerase inhibitor. Another group of DNA inhibitors, including nitrofurantoin and metronidazole, act upon anaerobic bacteria. These act by generating metabolites that are incorporated into DNA strands, which then are more prone to breakage. These drugs are selectively toxic to anaerobic organisms, but can affect human cells.

RNA inhibitors

RNA Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA and deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA) are nucleic acids. Along with lipids, proteins, and carbohydra ...

inhibitors such as rifampin, act upon DNA-dependent RNA polymerase.

Antifolates (DNA, RNA, and protein)

Antifolates act primarily as inhibitors of both RNA and DNA, and are often grouped with nucleic acid inhibitors in textbooks. However, they also act indirectly as protein synthesis inhibitors (because tetrahydrofolate is also involved in the synthesis of amino acids

serine Serine (symbol Ser or S) is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It contains an α-amino group (which is in the protonated − form under biological conditions), a carboxyl group (which is in the deprotonated − form un ...

and

methionine Methionine (symbol Met or M) () is an essential amino acid in humans. As the precursor of other amino acids such as cysteine and taurine, versatile compounds such as SAM-e, and the important antioxidant glutathione, methionine plays a critical ro ...

), so they are sometimes considered as their own category, antimetabolites. However, the term "antimetabolite", when used literally, can apply to many different classes of drugs.

References

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