---
title: How Do Antibiotics Affect the Energy Metabolism?
description: By impairing the ability of bacteria to produce ATP certain antibiotics inhibit their growth. How do theses antibiotics target the energy metabolism?
---

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# [How Do Antibiotics Affect the Energy Metabolism?](https://resources.biomol.com/biomol-blog/how-do-antibiotics-affect-the-energy-metabolism)

 Written by [Julia Urban](https://resources.biomol.com/biomol-blog/author/julia-urban) | Oct 24, 2021 10:00:00 PM

Bacteria can produce ATP by substrate-level phosphorylation of fermentable carbon sources or by oxidative phosphorylation using the electron transport chain and ATP synthase. Some bacteria cannot acquire enough energy through substrate-level phosphorylation and need oxidative phosphorylation for growth. [Oligomycins](https://www.biomol.com/search?p=1&ffFollowSearch=9425&q=Oligomycins&o=7&n=12&s=Cayman) are macrolide antibiotics that inhibit oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria by inhibiting ATP synthesis. They form a complex with the oligomycin-sensitivity-conferring protein, which decouples the F0 and F1 portions of the ATP synthase complex and interferes with proton transfer through the inner mitochondria membrane (**Figure 1**). These actions are highly cytotoxic, so are mostly harnessed as biological probes to study oxidative phosphorylation and various mitochondrial processes. Nevertheless, because the ATP synthase plays a crucial role in bacterial growth and metabolism, highly selective inhibitors such as the diarylquinoline [TMC207](https://www.biomol.com/products/chemicals/biochemicals/tmc207-cay20247-1), which targets only the mycobacterial ATP synthase, have been developed to treat drug-resistant *M. tuberculosis*. [Clofazimine](https://www.biomol.com/products/chemicals/antibiotics/clofazimine-cay23301-1) targets the type II NADH dehydrogenase (NDH-2), the point of entry of electrons into the respiratory chain of mycobacteria. Further down the chain, [pyrazinamide](https://www.biomol.com/products/chemicals/antibiotics/pyrazinamide-cay23416-10) disrupts the proton motive force in mycobacteria.

**Figure 1**: Antibiotics target various stages of oxidative phosphorylation in mycobacteria.

[List Antibiotics](https://www.biomol.com/products/chemicals/antibiotics/)

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