Nigericin is an

antibiotic An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting pathogenic bacteria, bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the therapy ...

derived from '' Streptomyces hygroscopicus''. Its isolation from soil from

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

was described in the 1950s, by R.L Harned (et. al), and in 1968 the structure could be elucidated by

X-ray crystallography X-ray crystallography is the experimental science of determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to Diffraction, diffract in specific directions. By measuring th ...

. The structure and properties of nigericin are similar to the

monensin. Commercially it is obtained as a byproduct, or contaminant, at the fermentation of

geldanamycin Geldanamycin is a 1,4-benzoquinone ansamycin Antitumor agent, antitumor antibiotic that inhibits the function of Hsp90 (Heat Shock Protein 90) by binding to the unusual ADP/ATP-binding pocket of the protein. HSP90 client proteins play important rol ...

. It is also called polyetherin A, azalomycin M, helixin C, antibiotic K178, and antibiotic X-464. Nigericin acts as an H⁺, K⁺, Pb²⁺

ionophore In chemistry, an ionophore () is a chemical species that reversibly binds ions. Many ionophores are lipid-soluble entities that transport ions across the cell membrane. Ionophores catalyze ion transport across hydrophobic membranes, such as l ...

. Most commonly it is an

antiporter An antiporter (also called exchanger or counter-transporter) is an integral membrane protein that uses secondary active transport to move two or more molecules in opposite directions across a phospholipid membrane. It is a type of cotransporte ...

of H⁺ and K⁺. In the past nigericin was used as an antibiotic active against

gram positive In bacteriology, gram-positive bacteria are bacteria that give a positive result in the Gram stain test, which is traditionally used to quickly classify bacteria into two broad categories according to their type of cell wall. The Gram stain i ...

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

. It inhibits the Golgi functions in Eukaryotic cells. Its ability to induce K⁺ efflux also makes it a potent activator of the

NLRP3 NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) (previously known as NACHT, LRR, and PYD domains-containing protein 3 ALP3and cryopyrin), is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''NLRP3'' gene located on the long arm of chromosome 1. NLRP ...

inflammasome Inflammasomes are cytosolic multiprotein complexes of the innate immune system responsible for the activation of inflammatory responses and cell death. They are formed as a result of specific cytosolic pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) sens ...

References

{{Glutamate metabolism and transport modulators Antibiotics Ionophores Tetrahydrofurans Tetrahydropyrans Primary alcohols Lactols Hemiketals Vicinal diols Carboxylic acids Spiro compounds Ketals