Mechanism Of Action Of Antimicrobial And Antitumor Agents

This volume is the third in the series devoted to Antibiotics initiated by Springer Verlag in 1967. The first two volumes were devoted to the Mode of Action of Antibiotics and Biogenesis, respectively and were received graciously. During the intervening years these two works have been used often by research workers and students alike and have been quoted extensively. Although a number of other excellent treatises on antibiotics have appeared, the Springer series has set a standard for thoroughness and quality that meets the need of the scientific community. It is against this background that the present Editors set about the preparation of a third volume in the Series on Antibiotics. Since the appearance of Volume I, also dealing with Mechanism of Action, tremendous strides have been made in the depth and breadth of our knowledge of molecular biology, microbial chemistry and molecular pharmacology and of their direct application to studies on the mode of action of drugs. The field of molecular biology itself was in its relative infancy during the preceding decade and the unique role played by many anti biotics in the development of our understanding of nucleic acid synthesis and function and its relationship to protein synthesis and cell physiology has led rapidly to a very precise, understanding of how many of these same antibiotics inhibit susceptible cells.

Antibacterial agents act against bacterial infection either by killing the bacterium or by arresting its growth. They do this by targeting bacterial DNA and its associated processes, attacking bacterial metabolic processes including protein synthesis, or interfering with bacterial cell wall synthesis and function. Antibacterial Agents is an essential guide to this important class of chemotherapeutic drugs. Compounds are organised according to their target, which helps the reader understand the mechanism of action of these drugs and how resistance can arise. The book uses an integrated “lab-to-clinic” approach which covers drug discovery, source or synthesis, mode of action, mechanisms of resistance, clinical aspects (including links to current guidelines, significant drug interactions, cautions and contraindications), prodrugs and future improvements. Agents covered include: agents targeting DNA - quinolone, rifamycin, and nitroimidazole antibacterial agents agents targeting metabolic processes - sulfonamide antibacterial agents and trimethoprim agents targeting protein synthesis - aminoglycoside, macrolide and tetracycline antibiotics, chloramphenicol, and oxazolidinones agents targeting cell wall synthesis - β-Lactam and glycopeptide antibiotics, cycloserine, isonaizid, and daptomycin Antibacterial Agents will find a place on the bookshelves of students of pharmacy, pharmacology, pharmaceutical sciences, drug design/discovery, and medicinal chemistry, and as a bench reference for pharmacists and pharmaceutical researchers in academia and industry.

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The idea for publishing these books on the mechanism of action and on the biosynthesis of antibiotics was born of frustration in our attempts to keep abreast of the literature. Gone were the years when we were able to keep a biblio graphy on antibiotics and feel confident that we could find everything that was being published on this subject. These fields of investigation were moving for ward so rapidly and were encompassing so wide a range of specialized areas in microbiology and chemistry that it was almost impossible to keep abreast of developments. In our naivete and enthusiasm, however, we were unaware that we were toying with an idea that might enmesh us, that we were creating an entity with a life of its own, that we were letting loose a Golom who instead of being our servant would be our master. That we set up ideals for these books is obvious; they would be current guides to developments and information in the areas of mechanism of action and bio synthesis of antibiotics. For almost every subject, we wished to enlist the aid of an investigator who himself had played a part in determining the nature of the phenomena that were being discussed. One concept for the books was that they include only antibiotics for which a definitive, well-documented mechanism of action or biosynthetic pathway was known.