Cell wall-active antibiotics induce specific alterations of the electrophoretic profile of membrane proteins in a Staphylococcus aureus strain.
The effect of six representative cell wall-active antibiotics upon the membrane proteins of Staphylococcus aureus CIP 65-25 was studied. The profiles of whole membrane proteins and of penicillin-binding proteins of strain CIP 65-25 grown on an antibiotic-free medium were analysed and compared with those of nine other S. aureus strains. Both profiles were found to be very similar for all strains examined. Cell wall-active antibiotics brought about definite changes dealing with a few membrane proteins of strain CIP 65-25. Some polypeptide bands of the control profiles decreased or vanished after exposure to antibiotics whereas others rose only in antibiotic-treated bacteria. None of these modified polypeptides was a penicillin-binding protein. Their possible involvement in the antibacterial effects of antibiotics or in the determinism of bacterial resistance to antibiotics is discussed.
Najioullah
F
F
Laboratoire Central de Microbiologie, Hôpital Edouard Herriot, Lyon, France.
Pellon
G
G
Freney
J
J
Michel
G
G
Fleurette
J
J
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects*; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D016106:Methicillin Resistance; D013045:Species Specificity; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects*
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins