Aminocoumarin

Aminocoumarin is a class of antibiotics that act by an inhibition of the DNA gyrase enzyme involved in the cell division in bacteria.

Antibiotics of the aminocoumarin family exert their therapeutic activity by binding tightly to the B subunit of bacterial DNA gyrase, thereby inhibiting this essential enzyme.

[5] They compete with ATP for binding to the B subunit of this enzyme and inhibit the ATP-dependent DNA supercoiling catalysed by gyrase.

[6] X-ray crystallography studies have confirmed binding at the ATP-binding site located on the gyrB subunit of DNA gyrase.

[8] Other mechanisms include de novo synthesis of a coumarin-resistant gyrase B subunit by the novobiocin producer S. sphaeroides .