Tetracyclines in Biology, Chemistry and Medicine

The use of tetracyclines as medicinal antibiotic agents dates to the late 1940s, and thousands of such compounds have been synthesized, many of which are still in widespread use today. Whereas many older antibiotics have fallen by the wayside, new biologic and medicinal usages for tetracyclines continue to be developed. This book provides an up-to-date account of the non-antimicrobial properties of tetracyclines, covering - general properties of tetracyclines, their chemistry, biology, and microbiologic action - the tetracycline gene regulation system which is now widely used for the study of gene activity - use of tetracyclines as non-antimicrobial medicinal agents in human diseases It is of interest to medicinal chemists, bacteriologists, microbiologists, infectious disease specialists, molecular biologists, geneticists, experimental pathologists, physicians and scientists in a wide number of disciplines including cancer, dentistry, rheumatology, vascular disease and ophthalmology.

Table of Contents

List of contributors Foreword Sect. I Chemistry, biology and microbiologic action of tetracyclines The chemistry and cellular biology of the tetracyclines   Proton and metal ion binding of tetracyclines   Sect. II Tetracycline-dependent gene regulation: A versatile tool for all organisms Gene regulation by the tetracycline-inducible Tet repressor-operator system - molecular mechanisms at atomic resolution   Regulation of gene expression in yeast and plants by tetracycline-dependent regulatory systems   Tetracyclines in the control of gene expression in eukaryotes   Tetracycline-regulated gene expression to study oncogenes in vivo   Interactions of tetracyclines with RNA   Sect. III Use of tetracyclines as non-antimicrobial medicinal agents Biologic, non-antibiotic properties of semi-synthetic and chemically modified tetracyclines - a structured, annotated bibliography   Tetracycline consumption in prehistory   Tetracycline treatment of periodontal disease: antimicrobial and non-antimicrobial mechanisms   Inhibition of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) by tetracyclines   Structure/function studies of doxycycline effects on matrix metalloproteinase activity and cartilage degeneration   Regulation of inflammatory mediators by tetracyclines   Tetracyclines and autoimmunity   Tetracycline photodynamics   Subject index