Cycloheximide

- Overview
  - Cycloheximide is a glutarimide antibiotic and natural fungicide isolated from Streptomyces griseus and a protein synthesis inhibitor in eukaryotic cells. It was discovered by Alma Whiffen-Barksdale of Upjohn Company in 1946. Cycloheximide is routinely used as a selection agent in several types of isolation media. In molecular biology, it can be used as an experimental tool to determine the half-life of a protein or to study protein synthesis and degradation. Cycloheximide can also be used in protein expression studies, translational profiling and ribosome profiling.
    Cycloheximide is soluble in DMSO and ethanol.
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    Background
    
    Cycloheximide binds to the ribosome and inhibits the eEF2-mediated translocation step in protein synthesis, thus blocking translational elongation.
- Properties
  - CAS Number
    
    66-81-9
    
    Molecular Formula
    
    C15H23NO4
    
    Molecular Weight
    
    281.35
    
    Appearance
    
    White or cream-colored powder
    
    Solubility
    
    Soluble in DMSO and ethanol. Solution may be clear to hazy.
    
    Other Properties
    
    Source: Streptomyces griseus
    Loss on Drying: ≤ 1.0%
    Purity Level: (HPLC): ≥90.0%
    
    Storage
    
    Ambient
    
    * For research use only
- Applications
  - Application Description
    
    Spectrum: Cycloheximide is used for fungi and yeast, including fungi found in brewing test media. It has lower activity against bacteria.
    
    Microbiology Applications: Cycoloheximide is routinely used as a selection agent in several types of isolation media:
    Columbia Blood Agar - Campylobacter Selective supplement (Butzler)
    Dermasel agar - Selective supplement for dermatophyte fungi
    Campylobacter Agar - Campylobacter Selective Supplement (Preston)
    Listeria Selective Agar - Listeria Selective Supplement
    Listeria Enrichemnt Broth - Listeria Selective Enrichment Supplement
    Listeria Enrichment Broth - Modified Listeria Selective Enrichemnt Supplement
    STAA Agar - STAA Selective Supplement
    Legionella CYE Agar - Legionella GVPC Selective Supplement
    Campylobacter Agar - Campylobacter Selective Supplement (Karmali)
    Bolton Broth - Bolton Broth Selective Supplement
    Representative susceptibility data includes:
    Candida albicans: 12.5 µg/ml
    Saccharomyces cerevisiae: 0.2 µg/ml
    Mycosphaerella graminicola: 5.62-100 µg/ml
    For additional Cycloheximide MIC data, please review our Antimicrobial Index.
    
    Plant Biology Applications: Cycloheximide is a commonly used for in vitro applications to inhibit fungal growth by targeting protein synthesis. In yeast, concentrations of 200 µM have fungicidal effects (Schneider-Poetsch et al, 2009). The compound can be used as a plant growth regulator to stimulate ethylene production in leaves and fruit.
    
    Eukaryotic Cell Culture Applications: Cycloheximide is widely used in biomedical research to inhibit protein synthesis in eukaryotic cells studied in vitro. It inhibits the synthesis of proteins and macromolecules, and affects apoptosis in eukaryotes.Cycloheximide Solution (C084) was used to study transcription factors (LMX1A and LMX1B) in the adult midbrain, contributing to our understanding of dopaminergic neuronal (mDAN) decline in Parkinson’s disease (Jimenez-Moreno et al, 2019).
    
    Cancer Applications: Pretreatment with Cycloheximide followed by estrogen stimulation prevented estrogen-induced changes in glucose metabolism in perfused breast cancer T47D clone 11 cells. This suggested that the estrogen stimulation requires synthesis of mRNA and protein (Neeman and Degani, 1989).In studying the “immune escape” of cancer cells, in human colorectal cancer cell line COLO 205 is normally resistant to TNF-alpha, a death inducing ligand. However, co-incubation TNF-alpha with Cycloheximide caused time-dependent cell death. In fact, authors found that Cycloheximide sensitizes cells to TNF-alpha-induced apoptosis (Pajak et al, 2005).