page_title: Mupirocin
section_title: Biosynthesis
hierarchical_section_title: Mupirocin / Biosynthesis
caption_attribution_description: English: Reaction scheme for the methylation of C3 of Mupirocin, AK232
context_page_description: Mupirocin, sold under the brand name Bactroban among others, is a topical antibiotic useful against superficial skin infections such as impetigo or folliculitis. It may also be used to get rid of methicillin-resistant S. aureus when present in the nose without symptoms. Due to concerns of developing resistance, use for greater than ten days is not recommended. It is used as a cream or ointment applied to the skin.
  Common side effects include itchiness and rash at the site of application, headache, and nausea. Long term use may result in increased growth of fungi. Use during pregnancy and breastfeeding appears to be safe. Mupirocin is in the carboxylic acid class of medications. It works by blocking a bacteria's ability to make protein, which usually results in bacterial death.
  Mupirocin was initially isolated in 1971 from Pseudomonas fluorescens. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the safest and most effective medicines needed in a health system. The wholesale cost in the developing world is about US$2.10 for a 15 g tube. In the United States, a course of treatment costs $25 to $50.
context_section_description: Mupirocin is a mixture of several pseudomonic acids, with pseudomonic acid A (PA-A) constituting greater than 90% of the mixture. Also present in mupirocin are pseudomonic acid B with an additional hydroxyl group at C8, pseudomonic acid C with a double bond between C10 and C11, instead of the epoxide of PA-A, and pseudomonic acid D with a double bond at C4` and C5` in the 9-hydroxy-nonanoic acid portion of mupirocin.
caption: Figure 3. The C15 methyl group of monic acid is attached to C3 by the following reaction scheme. MupH is a Hydroxymethylglutaryl-Coenzyme A synthase, MupJ and MupK are Enoyl-CoA hydratases.[23]
exif: {}