title: Molecular modelling of membrane activity of amphotericin B, a polyene macrolide antifungal antibiotic.
abstract: Amphotericin B (AmB) is a well known polyene macrolide antibiotic used to treat systemic fungal infections. Despite its toxicity AmB is still regarded as a life-saving drug. The lack of adequate knowledge of the AmB mechanism of action is a serious obstacle to efficient development of new less toxic derivatives. Complementary to various experimental approaches, computational chemistry methods were used to study AmB mechanism of action. A programme lasting for a decade, that was run by our group covered studies of: i) molecular properties of AmB and its membrane targets, ii) structure and properties of AmB membrane channels, and iii) interaction of AmB with the membrane.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdańsk University of Technology, Gdańsk, Poland. maciekb@hypnos.chem.pg.gda.pl
authors.forename: Maciej
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baginski
authors.forename: Kamil
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sternal
authors.forename: Jacek
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Czub
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Borowski
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000666:Amphotericin B / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001692:Biological Transport; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011090:Polyenes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D011090:Polyenes; D000666:Amphotericin B