Fredericamycin is an antibiotic product of Streptomyces griseus that exhibits modest antitumor activity in vivo and in vitro. Because of its unique structure and the absence of a clearly defined mechanism of action, we examined the effects of this compound on L1210 cells in culture as well as on several enzymes that bind to DNA. Fredericamycin exhibits an IC50 of 4.4 microM toward L1210 cells, and its cytotoxicity is a function of the time of exposure as well as drug dose. No DNA breakage was observed in L1210 cells or isolated nuclei following exposure to highly lethal concentrations of fredericamycin. As a first step toward understanding its mechanism of action, we examined the effect of fredericamycin on several enzymes involved in DNA metabolism. The catalytic activity of both DNA topoisomerases I and II were totally inhibited by fredericamycin concentrations of 4.4 and 7.4 microM, respectively. Fredericamycin blocked etoposide-stimulated DNA cleavage by topoisomerase II both in vitro and in isolated nuclei. In addition, the drug inhibits DNA polymerase a in vitro, exhibiting an IC50 of 93 microM. These diverse actions of fredericamycin do not enable us to draw conclusions regarding its mechanism of antitumor effect but clearly identify it as a compound of pharmacologic interest.