Puromycin Dihydrochloride

Puromycin is an antibiotic of unique structure and biological activity. It is produced by fermentation using Streptomyces albo-niger. There are four aspects of puromycin's biological activity that are 1) antitumor effect; 2) nephrotoxic action; 3) inhibition of purine and/or protein synthesis and 4) antitrypanosome activity.

Puromycin dihydrochloride is a part of the amino-nucleoside family of antibiotics and is derived from Streptomyces alboniger. It is a broad spectrum antibiotic with antitumor activity, as an inhibitor of protein synthesis and has been used to study transcription regulatory mechanisms that control the sequential and coordinate expression of genes during cell differentiation.

Puromycin can be used in vitro as a selection agent for cells transfected with puromycin N-acetyl transferase gene (pac). It causes premature chain termination in protein synthesis, and is an inhibitor of aminopeptidase and enkephalinase.

Mode of Action: Puromycin inhibits protein synthesis by causing premature chain termination acting as an analog of the 3′-terminal end of the aminoacyl-tRNA.

Mode of Resistance: Puromycin acetyltransferase is an effective resistance gene.

Antimicrobial Spectrum: This product is active against gram-positive microorganisms, less active against acid-fast bacilli and more weakly active against gram-negative microorganisms. Puromycin can prevent growth of bacteria, protozoa, algae and mammalian cells and acts quickly, killing 99% of cells within 2 days.