Bafilomycins and concanamycins as inhibitors of V-ATPases and P-ATPases.

Bafilomycins and concanamycins, two groups of the plecomacrolide-defined class of macrolide antibiotics, have recently been recognized as important tools for studying the physiological role of vacuolar-type, proton-translocating ATPases (V-ATPases) and ATPases with phosphorylated states (P-ATPases) in animal and plant cells as well as in yeast, fungi and bacteria. The following review will give an account of the classification and function of these antibiotics.