Mode of action of oxanosine, a novel nucleoside antibiotic.

Oxanosine, a novel nucleoside, inhibits the growth of Escherichia coli K-12 on peptone agar, but not on Nutrient agar. This antibiotic activity was found to be bacteriostatic and was antagonized by guanine, guanosine, and guanylic acid. The growth of leukemia L 1210 cell was also inhibited by oxanosine, and the inhibition was reversed by guanylic acid. Oxanosine was confirmed to be a competitive inhibitor of GMP synthetase (E.C. 6.3.5.2) and the Ki value was 7.4 X 10(-4) M.