Tetracycline hydrochloride (aqueous), antibiotic

Key facts

CAS number

64-75-5

Form

Liquid

form

Molecular weight

480.9 g/mol

Molecular formula

C₂₂H₂₅ClN₂O₈

Nature

Synthetic

Biological description

Broad spectrum polyketide antibiotic with clinical uses in treating bacterial infections such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, typush fever, tick fevers, Q fever, and Brill-Zinsser disease and to treat upper respiratory infections and acne.

Tetracycline passively diffuses through protein channels in the cell membrane, binding to 30S ribosomes and inhibits protein synthesis by preventing access of aminoacyl tRNA to the acceptor site on the mRNA-ribosome complex. It also binds to the bacterial 50S ribosomal subunit, altering the membrane and causing intracellular components to leak from bacterial cells.