What would be the extended effects of drugs that block
transcription?
The process by which DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is transcribed into RNA (ribonucleic acid) is called transcription. RNA polymerase is the enzyme that enables the transcription of RNA from DNA template. Eventually this is followed by translation, which involves synthesis of protein from the RNA.
Antibiotics are the drugs that function against the bacterial growth. The RNA polymerase and the other transcription factors in a bacterial domain are conserved. Hence they form exceptional targets for the antibiotics for inhibiting transcription.
The two antibiotics available that target the RNA polymerase in transcription are rifamycin and lipiarmycin. The transcription of bacteria acts as a target in the development of novel antibiotics. This is because:
- Wide array of anti RNA polymerase and the transcription factors in the bacteria are conserved, which can be easily targeted by the antibiotics that are anti transcriptional.
- Transcription is necessary for cells to be viable.
- The RNA polymerase in eukaryotes is not structurally similar to the bacterial RNA polymerase. Hence drugs that target bacterial RNA polymerase exhibit low cytotoxicity.
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