The mode of action of streptomycin has been studied more closely than that of other aminoglycosides, but all aminoglycosides are thought to act similarly. Aminoglycosides are irreversible inhibitors of protein synthesis, but the precise mechanism for bactericidal activity is unclear. The initial event is passive diffusion via porin channels across the outer membrane (see Figure 43–3). Drug is then actively transported across the cell membrane into the cytoplasm by an oxygen-dependent process. The transmembrane electrochemical gradient supplies the energy for this process, and transport is coupled to a proton pump. Low extracellular pH and anaerobic conditions inhibit transport by reducing the gradient. Transport may be enhanced by cell wall-active drugs such as penicillin or vancomycin; this enhancement may be the basis of the synergism of those antibiotics with aminoglycosides.
Inside the cell, aminoglycosides bind to 30S-subunit ribosomal proteins. Protein synthesis is inhibited by aminoglycosides in at least three ways (Figure 45–3): (1) interference with the initiation complex of peptide formation; (2) misreading of mRNA, which NH2 causes incorporation of incorrect amino acids into the peptide and C NH results in a nonfunctional protein; and (3) breakup of polysomes into nonfunctional monosomes. These activities occur more or less simultaneously, and the overall effect is irreversible and leads to cell death.
C. Mechanisms of Resistance
Three principal mechanisms of resistance have been established: (1) production of a transferase enzyme that inactivates the amino-
FIGURE 45–1 Structure of streptomycin.
glycoside by adenylylation, acetylation, or phosphorylation. This is the principal type of resistance encountered clinically. (2) There is impaired entry of aminoglycoside into the cell. This may result from mutation or deletion of a porin protein involved in transport and maintenance of the electrochemical gradient or from growth
Gentamicin, netilmicin
FIGURE 45–2 Structures of several important aminoglycoside antibiotics. Ring II is 2-deoxystreptamine. The resemblance between kanamycin and amikacin and between gentamicin, netilmicin, and tobramycin can be seen. Plazomicin’s ring II and III are similar to the other structures; it shares the same hydroxyl-aminobutyric acid R group as amikacin. Its ring I differs from amikacin in that it is unsaturated. The circled numerals on the kanamycin molecule indicate points of attack of plasmid-mediated bacterial transferase enzymes that can inactivate this drug. ➀, ➁, and ➂, acetyltransferase; ➃, phosphotransferase; ➄, adenylyltransferase. Amikacin is resistant to modification at ➁,➂,➃, and ➄; whereas plazomicin is resistant to modification at ➀, ➁, ➃, and ➄.