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Ficellomycin: an aziridine alkaloid antibiotic with potential therapeutic capacity

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Abstract

Ficellomycin is an aziridine antibiotic produced by Streptomyces ficellus, which displays high in vitro activity against Gram-positive bacteria including multidrug resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus. Compared to currently available antibiotics, ficellomycin exhibits a unique mechanism of action—it impairs the semiconservative DNA replication by inducing the formation of deficient 34S DNA fragments, which lack the ability to integrate into larger DNA pieces and eventually the complete bacterial chromosome. Until recently, some important progress has been made in research on ficellomycin synthesis and biosynthesis, opening the perspective to develop a new generation of antibiotics with better clinical performance than the currently used ones. In this review, we will cover the discovery and biological activity of ficellomycin, its biosynthesis, mode of action, and related synthetic analogs. The role of ficellomycin and its analogs as an important source of drug prototypes will be discussed together with future research prospects.

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Funding

This research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81373309) and the National High-Tech Research and Development Plan of China (Grant No. 2013AA102803; Task No. 2013AA102803C).

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Author notes

  1. Xihong He and Meng Li contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, Ministry of Education, College of Bioengineering, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin, 300457, People’s Republic of China

    Xihong He, Meng Li, Shuting Song, Xiaonong Wu, Jing Zhang, Guoguo Wu, Rong Yue, Huanhuan Cui, Siqing Song, Congcong Ma, Fuping Lu & Huitu Zhang

  2. Industrial Microbiology Laboratory, College of Biotechnology, Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Zone, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, 13 Main Street, No. 29, Tianjin, 300457, People’s Republic of China

    Huitu Zhang

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  1. Xihong He
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  2. Meng Li
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  3. Shuting Song
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  4. Xiaonong Wu
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  12. Huitu Zhang
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Correspondence to Huitu Zhang.

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He, X., Li, M., Song, S. et al. Ficellomycin: an aziridine alkaloid antibiotic with potential therapeutic capacity. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 102, 4345–4354 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-018-8934-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-018-8934-4

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