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Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Assay Development for High-Throughput Drug Screening Against Mycobacteria
Published on: October 25, 2024
The effect of ethambutol on mycobacterial cell wall permeability to hydrophobic compounds
Małgorzata Korycka-Machała1, Anna Rumijowska-Galewicz, Jarosław Dziadek
1Centre for Medical Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 93-232 Lódź, Lodowa 106, Poland.
Abstract:
Ethambutol (EMB), the first line drug in the treatment of tuberculosis, is an inhibitor of the biosynthesis of the cell wall compound - arabinogalactan. It was found that EMB at sub-inhibitory concentration increases the permeability of the M. vaccae cell wall, which was monitored by cell sensitization to erythromycin and rifampicin. The high permeability of the cell wall to hydrophobic compounds allows enhanced intracellular bioconversion of beta-sitosterol to 4-androsten-3,17-dione (AD) and 1,4-androstadien-3,17-dione (ADD).
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