Tetracycline medicines are an antibacterial class of medications that work by inhibiting bacterial protein synthesis. These are made from Streptomyces bacteria of various strains. The pharmacological molecules bind to the 30S ribosomal subunit in an irreversible manner, inhibiting the bacterial protein elongation step. Tetracyclines can be found in both lyophilic and hydrophilic forms, allowing them to interact with both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. A few gram negative bacterial strains, such as Proteus mirabilis, have an inherent resistance to certain tetracyclines, rendering these medications useless against them, but no resistance has been detected in gram-positive strains.
