P LATENSIMYCIN By: Kylie McKay & Megan Logan

C 24 H 27 N O 7

A TOMS I NVOLVED :  Nitrogen: Atomic Number: 7 Atomic Weight: 14g/mol Gas.  Oxygen: Atomic Number: 8 Atomic Weight: 16g/mol Gas.  Carbon: Atomic Number: 6 Atomic Weight: 12g/mol Solid.  Hydrogen: Atomic Number: 1 Atomic Weight: 1g/mol Gas.

C HARACTERISTICS o Molecular Mass: g mol−1 o Chemical Formula: C 24 H 27 N O 7 o Density: (Can’t Find) o Melting Point: (Can’t Find) o Solubility: DMSO (95% Ethanol) or EtOH (Ethanol)

H ISTORY o Platensimycin is an antibiotic. o It was discovered by Merck scientist Jun Wang and over 35 of his Merck colleagues, after they systematically screened 250,000 compounds extracted from microorganisms for antibiotic properties, Platensimycin, isolated from a strain of bacterium Streptomyces platensis found in a soil sample from South Africa. o Platensimycin is now an experimental new drug in preclinical trials in an effort to combat MRSA in a mouse model. o Platensimycin is a very effective antibiotic in vivo when continuously administered to cells, however this efficacy is reduced when administered by more conventional means. Consequently, and in light of the elevated levels of the drug necessary for effectiveness, clinical trials have been delayed pending the development of variants of similar chemical form which have more favorable properties. Since the importance of platensimycin, it has been studied to improve the production by gene regulation and it is also emphasized recently to investigate the tolerance of modification without affecting activity by chemical modifications, which can hopefully create the easier synthetic pathway or increase the activity of platensimycin.

H OW IT WORKS Platensimycin works by inhibiting a bacterium ability to synthesize fatty acids--the essential components of cell membranes. The anti- bacterial effect is through the selective targeting of FabF/ B condensing enzymes in the synthetic pathway of fatty acids. Direct binding assays show that platensimycin interacts specifically with the acylenzyme intermediate of the target protein.

H EALTH : Potential for treating diabetes and related disorders. No observed toxicity or other health effects.

B IBLIOGRAPHY EasyBib: Free Bibliography Maker - MLA, APA, Chicago Citation Styles. Web. 31 Jan "EtOH - Definition of EtOH in the Medical Dictionary - by the Free Online Medical Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia." Medical Dictionary. Web. 31 Jan Google Images. Web. 31 Jan Harrison, Karl. 3DChem.com." 3DChem.com. Oct Web. 31 Jan "Molecule of the Week." American Chemical Society - The World's Largest Scientific Society. American Chemical Society. Web. 31 Jan "Platensimycin." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 26 Nov Web. 31 Jan l