Bleomycin

**Semantic type:** Amino Acid, Peptide, or Protein|Pharmacologic Substance

**Definition:** A mixture of glycopeptide antineoplastic antibiotics isolated from the bacterium Streptomyces verticillus. Bleomycin forms complexes with iron that reduce molecular oxygen to superoxide and hydroxyl radicals which cause single- and double-stranded breaks in DNA; these reactive oxygen species also induce lipid peroxidation, carbohydrate oxidation, and alterations in prostaglandin synthesis and degradation.

**Synonyms:** - BLEO - BLEOMYCIN - BLM - Bleo - bleomycin