Clavams are a class of antibiotics. This antibiotic is derived from ''

Streptomyces clavuligerus ''Streptomyces clavuligerus'' is a species of Gram-positive bacterium notable for producing clavulanic acid. ''S. clavuligerus'' ATCC 27064 (NRRL 3585, DSM 738) was first described by Higgens and Kastner (1971), who isolated it from a South Am ...

'' NRRL 3585. Clavam is produced to form a new

β-lactam antibiotic β-lactam antibiotics (beta-lactam antibiotics) are antibiotics that contain a beta-lactam ring in their chemical structure. This includes penicillin derivatives (penams), cephalosporins and cephamycins (cephems), monobactams, carbapenems and ...

. This class is divided into the

clavulanic acid Clavulanic acid is a β-lactam drug that functions as a mechanism-based β-lactamase inhibitor. While not effective by itself as an antibiotic, when combined with penicillin-group antibiotics, it can overcome antibiotic resistance in bacteria t ...

class and the 5S clavams class.

Clavulanic acid Clavulanic acid is a β-lactam drug that functions as a mechanism-based β-lactamase inhibitor. While not effective by itself as an antibiotic, when combined with penicillin-group antibiotics, it can overcome antibiotic resistance in bacteria t ...

is a broad-spectrum antibiotic and 5S clavams may have anti-fungal properties. They are similar to penams, but with an oxygen substituted for the sulfur. Thus, they are also known as oxapenams. An example is

, from which this compound class receives its name. Clavulanic acid, a type of Clavam, has antibiotic properties. It can be used as a medication to treat a variety of bacterial infections
CLAVAM
tablets may be effective for short-term treatment of bronchitis, cystitis, sinusitis, otitis media, or skin infections. Clavams are commonly used in conjunction with other antibiotics such as

amoxicillin Amoxicillin is an antibiotic medication used to treat a number of bacterial infections. These include middle ear infection, strep throat, pneumonia, skin infections, and urinary tract infections among others. It is taken by mouth, or less c ...

to produce a broader therapeutic effect. Clavulanic acid strongly inhibits

b-lactamase Beta-lactamases, (β-lactamases) are enzymes () produced by bacteria that provide multi-resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics such as penicillins, cephalosporins, cephamycins, monobactams and carbapenems ( ertapenem), although carbapenems ...

in bacteria, which is associated with its antibiotic properties. B - lactam antibiotics generally have a common feature which is the 3-carbon and 1-nitrogen ring (beta-lactam ring) that is highly reactive. Different molecules of the Clavam class have been shown to inhibit the action of several fungal species. 5S Clavams do not have an inhibitory effect on

, but are involved in methionine biosynthesis inhibition, making them bacteriostatic agents. Additionally, 5S Clavams may have inhibitory effects on

RNA synthesis Transcription is the process of copying a segment of DNA into RNA. The segments of DNA transcribed into RNA molecules that can encode proteins are said to produce messenger RNA (mRNA). Other segments of DNA are copied into RNA molecules called ...

, which is a common property of anti-fungal medications. Clavams have wide-ranging bioactivity, and may have greater therapeutic use than current research indicates. Because of their activity on

, this class of antibiotics can evade antibiotic resistance in

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometr ...

, which is a risk associated with other antibiotics such as penicillins.

Regulation of Clavam-biosynthesis in S. clavuligerus

In S Clavuligerus infection, a Streptomyces antibiotic regulatory protein known as CcaR (cephamycin and clavulanic acid regulator) are encoded into the Cephamycin gene cluster. This is essential for the cephamycin C and clavulanic acid but not the 5S claims. CcaR is important for the expression of polycistronic transcripts, which are early genes for clavulanic acid biosynthesis. This is also a key factor for activating its own transcription by binding to its own promoting region.

References

Beta-lactamase inhibitors Lactams {{biochemistry-stub