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Science 8 June 1945:
Vol. 101. no. 2632, pp. 592 - 594
DOI: 10.1126/science.101.2632.592
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Articles

STUDIES ON THE MECHANISM OF ANTIBACTERIAL ACTION OF 2-METHYL-1,4-NAPHTHOQUINONE

CHARLOTTE A. COLWELL 1 and MARY MCCALL 1

1 MICROBIOLOGY LABORATORIES, VELSICOL CORPORATION, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Thioglycolic acid neutralized with sodium carbonate, sodium thioglycolate (Eastman), ethyl mercaptan, cysteine hydrochloride and certain sulfur-containing reducing agents (sodium bisulfite and sodium hydrosulfite) antagonize the antibacterial action of 2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone on Escherichia coli in a synthetic medium. Other reducing agents such as stannous chloride, potassium formate and sodium thiosulfate, show no such antagonism. The antibacterial activities of 2-methyl-3-chloro-1,4-naphthoquinone and 2,6-dimethyl-1,4-naphthoquinone are also abolished by excess thioglycolate and cysteine, while that of 2-methyl-3-methoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone with -OCH3 instead of -Cl or -H in the 3 position on the quinone ring, is not. These findings suggest that the mode of antibacterial action of 2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone is by blocking essential enzymes through combination with sulfhydryl groups, or through combination with sulfhydryl groups of essential bacterial metabolites. This combination may take place in the 3-position on the quinone ring. This mode of action is similar to that suggested by other investigators for several antibiotic agents including penicillin. The antibacterial activity of the methoxy quinone, however, even in the presence of sulfhydryl groups, suggests that the foregoing explanation may not be the complete one.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Mechanism of the Antibiotic Action of Certain Quinones.
O. HOFFMAN-OSTENHOF (1947)
Science 105, 549-550
   PDF »
Interference With the Antibacterial Action of Streptomycin by Reducing Agents.
A. BONDI JR., C. C. DIETZ, and E. H. SPAULDING (1946)
Science 103, 399-401
   Abstract »    PDF »


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