title: Effect of farnesol on mevalonate pathway of Staphylococcus aureus.
abstract: To investigate the mechanism of action by which farnesol functions as an antibacterial agent and inhibits Staphylococcus aureus growth, the growth rates of S. aureus cultured in farnesol versus S. aureus cultured in farnesol and supplemented with 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl (HMG)-CoA or mevalonate were compared. The investigation was designed to observe whether farnesol affected on the mevalonate pathway by using the intermediate metabolites of the pathway. The resulting growth curves demonstrated that mevalonate reduced the antibacterial activity of farnesol, but HMG-CoA did not inhibit farnesol. These results suggest that farnesol affects the mevalonate pathway. Moreover, farnesol inhibited HMG-CoA reductase activity in an in vitro enzymatic assay.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Showa Pharmaceutical University, Machida, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Mizuho
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Togashi
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hamashima
authors.forename: Masayoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hirohara
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Inoue
mesh_terms: D000214:Acyl Coenzyme A / Q000378:metabolism; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry; D005204:Farnesol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D008798:Mevalonic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000214:Acyl Coenzyme A; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D003470:Culture Media; C008047:3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A; D005204:Farnesol; D008798:Mevalonic Acid