Assembly of monic acid is continued by the transfer of the 12C product of MmpD to MmpA. Two more rounds of extension with malonyl-CoA units are achieved by module 5 and 6. Module 5 also contains a KR domain. Post-PKS tailoring
The keto group at C3 is replaced with a methyl group in a multi-step reaction (Figure 3). MupG begins by decarboxylating a malonyl-ACP. The alpha carbon of the resulting acetyl-ACP is linked to C3 of the polyketide chain by MupH. This intermediate is dehydrated and decarboxylated by MupJ and MupK, respectively.The formation of the pyran ring requires many enzyme-mediated steps (Figure 4). The double bond between C8 and C9 is proposed to migrate to between C8 and C16. Gene knockout experiments of mupO, mupU, mupV, and macpE have eliminated PA-A production. PA-B production is not removed by these knockouts, demonstrating that PA-B is not created by hydroxylating PA-A. A knockout of mupW eliminated the pyran ring, identifying MupW as being involved in ring formation. It is not known whether this occurs before or after the esterification of monic acid to 9-hydroxy-nonanoic acid. The epoxide of PA-A at C10-11 is believed to be inserted after pyran formation by a cytochrome P450 such as MupO. A gene knockout of mupO abolished PA-A production but PA-B, which also contains the C10-C11 epoxide, remained. This indicates that MupO is either not involved or is not essential for this epoxidation step.
Mupirocin is inactive for most anaerobic bacteria, mycobacteria, mycoplasma, chlamydia, yeast and fungi.Intranasal mupirocin before surgery is effective for prevention of post-operative wound infection with Staphylcoccus aureus and preventative intranasal or catheter-site treatment is effective for reducing the risk of catheter site infection in persons treated with chronic peritoneal dialysis. Resistance
Shortly after the clinical use of mupirocin began, strains of Staphylococcus aureus that were resistant to mupirocin emerged, with nares clearance rates of less than 30% success. Two distinct populations of mupirocin-resistant S. aureus were isolated. One strain possessed low-level resistance, MuL, (MIC = 8–256 mg/L) and another possessed high-level resistance, MuH, (MIC > 256 mg/L). Resistance in the MuL strains is probably due to mutations in the organisms wild-type isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase. In E. coli IleRS, a single amino acid mutation was shown to alter mupirocin resistance. MuH is linked to the acquisition of a separate Ile synthetase gene, MupA. Mupirocin is not a viable antibiotic against MuH strains. Other antibiotic agents, such as azelaic acid, nitrofurazone, silver sulfadiazine, and ramoplanin have been shown to be effective against MuH strains.Most strains of Cutibacterium acnes, a causative agent in the skin disease acne vulgaris, are naturally resistant to mupirocin.The mechanism of action of mupirocin differs from other clinical antibiotics, rendering cross-resistance to other antibiotics unlikely. However, the MupA gene may co-transfer with other antibacterial resistance genes. This has been observed already with resistance genes for triclosan, tetracycline, and trimethoprim. It may also result in overgrowth of non-susceptible organisms.