Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Analysis of the Lipid Composition of Mycobacteria by Thin Layer Chromatography
Published on: April 16, 2021
Mycolactones: immunosuppressive and cytotoxic polyketides produced by aquatic mycobacteria
Hui Hong1, Caroline Demangel, Sacha J Pidot
1Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, 80 Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1GA, UK.
Abstract:
Mycolactones are a family of highly related macrocyclic polyketides that exhibit immunosuppressive and cytotoxic properties. First discovered in 1999, they are the primary virulence factors produced by the environmental human pathogen Mycobacterium ulcerans, the causative agent of Buruli ulcer, and by some closely-related aquatic mycobacteria that cause disease in fish and frogs. Mycolactones are characterized by a common 12-membered lactone core to which is appended an unsaturated fatty acyl side-chain of variable length and oxidation state. This Highlight summarizes recent progress in understanding the structural diversity of the mycolactones, their biological activity and mode of action in mammalian cells, and the genetics, evolution, and enzymology of their biosynthesis.
Related Concept Videos
Bacterial Phylum Actinobacteria
Inhibitors of Bacterial Protein Synthesis
Bacterial Phylum Planctomycetes
Drugs that Destabilize Microtubules
Bacterial Toxins
Defense Against Bacterial Pathogens
Phagocytes
Phagocytes are the frontline soldiers of the immune system. They include neutrophils and macrophages. Neutrophils are the most abundant type of white blood cell and are quickly mobilized to the site of infection. Macrophages are larger cells that patrol...

