Selective action of erythromycin on initiating ribosomes

ANTIBIOTICS TARGETING RIBOSOMES: Resistance, Selectivity, Synergism, and Cellular Regulation

“…This pocket is located at the upper side of the tunnel, below the PTC and above the tunnel constriction ( Figure 6). Macrolides and ketolides, which rank highest in clinical usage, bind to this high-affinity pocket either in vacant or to translating ribosomes, carrying a very short nascent peptide (62)(63)(64)(65). By binding, the useful antibiotics block nascent proteins' progression through the exit tunnel, which, in turn, causes an arrest of elongation (17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(65)(66)(67).…”

Insights into erythromycin action from studies of its activity as inducer of resistance

“…Thus, Tai et al (49) reported that erythromycin caused the breakdown of polysomes and proposed that under the influence of erythromycin, ribosomes enter a cycle of repetitive abortive initiations. In a similar vein, Menninger (38) and Menninger and Otto (37) noted enhanced in vivo release of peptidyl tRNA in cells treated with erythromycin, spiramycin, or carbomycin.…”

Posttranscriptional modification of mRNA conformation: Mechanism that regulates erythromycin-induced resistance

“…The pivotal role postulated for 2 requires that its integrity be maintained in mutation to constitutivity, whereas the opposite is true for 1, 3, and 4; in agreement with this expectation, none of the mutants found so far involves sequence 2. Refinements to the Model for Induction. (21) have made detailed studies of inhibition produced by erythromycin. They noted that erythromycin can inhibit at an early stage after initiation, before many amino acid residues have been incorporated.…”