title: Molecular basis for the selective toxicity of amphotericin B for yeast and filipin for animal cells.
abstract: Among the polyene antibiotics, many, like filipin, cannot be used clinically because they are toxic; amphotericin B, however, is useful in therapy of human fungal infections because it is less toxic. Both the toxicity of filipin and the therapeutic value of amphotericin B can be rationalized at the cellular and molecular level by the following observations: (i) these polyene antibiotics showed differential effects on cells; filipin was more potent in lysing human red blood cells, whereas amphotericin B was more potent in inhibiting yeast cell growth; and (ii) the effects of filipin were more efficiently inhibited by added cholesterol, the major membrane sterol in human cells, whereas the effects of amphotericin B were more efficiently inhibited by ergosterol, the major membrane sterol in yeast. The simplest inference is that the toxicity and effectiveness of polyenes are determined by their relative avidities for the predominant sterol in cell membranes.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kotler-Brajtburg
authors.forename: H D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Price
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Medoff
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schlessinger
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
mesh_terms: D000666:Amphotericin B / Q000633:toxicity*; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000633:toxicity*; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000633:toxicity*; D004347:Drug Interactions; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000187:drug effects*; D005372:Filipin / Q000633:toxicity*; D006461:Hemolysis / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D011090:Polyenes / Q000494:pharmacology; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000187:drug effects*; D013261:Sterols / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000935:Antifungal Agents; D011090:Polyenes; D013261:Sterols; D000666:Amphotericin B; D005372:Filipin