nigericin nigericin nigericin is an antibiotic derived from streptomyces hygroscopicus. its isolation was described in the 1950s, and in 1968 the structure could be elucidated by x-ray crystallography. the structure and properties of nigericin are similar to the antibiotic monensin. commercially it is obtained as a byproduct, or contaminant, at the fermentation of geldanamycin. it is also called polyetherin a, azalomycin m, helixin c, antibiotic k178, antibiotic x-464. nigericin names preferred iupac name (2r)-2--2,3′-dimethyl-5-yl}-9-methoxy-2,4,10-trimethyl-1,6-dixoaspirodecan-7-yl]methyl}-3-methyloxan-2-yl]propanoic acid other names polyetherin a, azalomycin m, helixin c, helix c identifiers cas number 28380-24-7 y 3d model (jsmol) interactive image chebi chebi:7569 y chembl chembl405862 y chemspider 10196461 y echa infocard 100.212.814 pubchem cid 34230 unii rru6gy95is y comptox dashboard (epa) dtxsid9041079 inchi inchi=1s/c40h68o11/c1-21-11-12-28(46-33(21)26(6)36(42)43)17-29-18-30(45-10)27(7)40(48-29)25(5)19-38(9,51-40)32-13-14-37(8,49-32)35-23(3)16-31(47-35)34-22(2)15-24(4)39(44,20-41)50-34/h21-35,41,44h,11-20h2,1-10h3,(h,42,43)/t21-,22-,23-,24+,25+,26+,27+,28+,29+,30+,31+,32+,33+,34-,35+,37-,38-,39-,40+/m0/s1 ykey: danuorfcftytsz-sjsjoxfosa-n yinchi=1/c40h68o11/c1-21-11-12-28(46-33(21)26(6)36(42)43)17-29-18-30(45-10)27(7)40(48-29)25(5)19-38(9,51-40)32-13-14-37(8,49-32)35-23(3)16-31(47-35)34-22(2)15-24(4)39(44,20-41)50-34/h21-35,41,44h,11-20h2,1-10h3,(h,42,43)/t21-,22-,23-,24+,25+,26+,27+,28+,29+,30+,31+,32+,33+,34-,35+,37-,38-,39-,40+/m0/s1key: danuorfcftytsz-sjsjoxfobs smiles oc(=o)(c)1o(cc1c)c6o2(o(c)(c2c)3cc(c)(o3)4o(c4c)5o(o)(co)(c)c5c)(c)(oc)c6 properties chemical formula c40h68o11 molar mass 724.96132 g/mol except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °c , 100 kpa). n verify (what is yn ?) infobox references nigericin acts as an h+, k+, pb2+ ionophore. most commonly it is an antiporter of h+ and k+. in the past nigericin was used as an antibiotic active against gram positive bacteria. it inhibits the golgi functions in eukaryotic cells. its ability to induce k+ efflux also makes it a potent activator of the nlrp3 inflammasome