Illustrated Glossary of Organic Chemistry
Suicide
inhibitor
:
A
drug
that
inhibits
a biological process by becoming
covalently bonded
to an
enzyme
.
Penicillin G
is an
antibiotic
that
inhibits
bacterial cell wall
synthesis
by becoming
covalently bonded
to the
enzyme
transpeptidase
(
Enz
-
OH
).
Transpeptidase
inhibition
prevents bacterial cell wall production.
Related terms:
Pharmaceutical
,
substrate
,
receptor
,
agonist
,
antagonist
,
β-lactam
,
ring strain
,
nucleophilic carbonyl substitution
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