What is "bafilomycin"

n. (context medicine English) Any of a family of toxic macrolide antibiotics derived from ''Streptomyces griseus''

The bafilomycins are a family of toxic macrolide antibiotic derived from Streptomyces griseus. These compounds all appear in the same fermentation and have quite similar biological activity. Bafilomycins are specific inhibitors of vacuolar-type H+-ATPase.

The most used bafilomycin is bafilomycin A1. This is a useful tool as it can prevent the re-acidification of synaptic vesicles once they have undergone exocytosis.

Bafilomycin has antibacterial, antifungal, antineoplastic, immunosuppressive activities. In addition, bafilomycin A1 has antimalarial activity It has been shown to decrease multi-drug resistance.

Bafilomycin B1 has been mentioned as a potential antiosteoporotic agent in treating bone lytic diseases.