Application

Tetracycline is a broad spectrum polyketide antibiotic. It is used clinically to treat bacterial infections such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, typhus fever, tick fevers, Q fever, and Brill-Zinsser disease. It is used to treat upper respiratory infections and acne¹. It is used to study multidrug resistance² as well as potential side effects such as acute pancreatitis³.

Biochem/physiol Actions

Tetracycline inhibits bacterial protein synthesis elongation at the level of aminoacyl-tRNA binding to the 30S ribosome. Tetracycline passively diffuses through porin channels in the bacterial cell membrane. It also binds to the bacterial 50S ribosomal subunit which may alter the cytoplasmic membrane, causing intracellular components to leak from bacterial cells¹. Mode of resistance is via loss of cell wall permeability.