The effects of D- and L-threo-chloramphenicol on the early development of the chick embryo

In many bacterial systems chloramphenicol has been shown to inhibit protein synthesis (Hahn & Wisseman, 1951; Gale & Folkes, 1953). The precise mechanism of this inhibition is not clear, although the evidence suggests that the interaction of the soluble RNA-amino acid complex with the ribosomes is prevented because the attachment of the messenger RNA to the ribosomes is itself impaired (Lacks & Gros, 1959; Nathans & Lipman, 1961; Jardetsky & Julian, 1964; Julian & Jardetsky, 1964). In contrast to its effect on bacterial systems, chloramphenicol has been reported to have little or no action on the protein synthesis by cell-free extracts of mammalian cells (Rendi, 1959; Ehrenstein & Lipmann, 1961). A basis for this resistance has been proposed by Vazquez (1964), who finds that whereas bacterial ribosomes bind chloramphenicol, ribosomes from other organisms do not. Nevertheless, it cannot be stated with any confidence that chloramphenicol has no effect on the protein synthesis of animal cells.