In: Biology
The antibiotics puromycin and erythromycin are known inhibitors of protein synthesis.
(a) Which part of the protein synthesis is affected by each antibiotic?
(b) What could be the reason why one of them is more effective than the other one when they are given in the same dose?
(a) Puromycin inhibits translation (protein synthesis) at the termination stage. It is an aminonucleoside and have some what similar structure to the 3' end of aminoacylated tRNA. It forms an amide bond instead of a normal ester bond. This makes the growing chain resistant to the process of hydrolysis. This causes the ribosome to stop and pre mature termination occurs.
In contrast, erthyromycin acts on the elongation stage of protein synthesis. It binds to the 23S subunit (which is in 50S rRNA). This blocks the release of growing peptide chain from the exit site. This stops the essential physiological functions of bacteria since vital proteins are not synthesized. It binds reversibly, so it is bacteriostatic in nature.
(b) Puromycin can act on both prokaryotic as well as eukaryotic cells. It is used as a selective agent for the cell cultures. Erythromycin is bacteriostatic and just inhibits the growth of bacteria. Moreover, its binding is reversible and can be altered.