Fig. 4: Mode of action of cannabidiol.

a Macromolecular synthesis assay in S. aureus RN42200 showing inhibition of radiolabelled substrate uptake in DNA ([2-¹⁴C]-thymidine), RNA ([5,6-³H]-uracil), protein (L-[4,5-³H]-leucine), phospholipid ([2-³H]-glycerol) and peptidoglycan ([¹⁴C(U)]-glycine) synthesis pathways after 35 min incubation. Data are mean ± SD for n = 2 biologically independent samples. MIC for CBD is 2–3 μg mL⁻¹. b, c Membrane depolarization assay in S. aureus ATCC 29213 b and E. coli SPT-39 c monitoring uptake of potential-sensitive fluorescent dye 3,3-dipropylthiadicarbocyanine iodide [DiSC3(5)] over time in presence of increasing concentrations of CBD. d–g Bacterial cytological profiling (BCP) assay in S. aureus ATCC 29213 d, f or B. subtilis PY79 e, g showing uptake of SYTOX™ Green dye over time in the presence of increased concentrations of CBD. Red FM 4–64 dye is used to visualize membranes (white scale bar is 1 µm). The plots d, e quantify the percentage of cells that have been permeabilized, defined as the fraction of cells with a mean SYTOX™ Green intensity greater than a cut-off value of 250 (number of cells measured ranged from 945–8050 for each time/concentration). Since CBD was dissolved in methanol, control cells were treated with 2.5% methanol.