Why are antibiotics that target disruption of cell membranes potentially more harmful to humans compared to antibiotics that target bacterial cell wall synthesis and bacterial protein synthesis?

Question

﻿Why are antibiotics that target disruption of cell membranes potentially more harmful to humans compared to antibiotics that target bacterial cell wall synthesis and bacterial protein synthesis?

Accepted Answer

∻Answer∻ ⚹ Antibiotics that target disruption of cell membranes are potentially more harmful to humans compared to those targeting bacterial cell wall synthesis and bacterial protein synthesis. ⚹ ∻Solution∻ ‖ a ⋮ Cell Membrane Similarity: Human cells and bacterial cells both have cell membranes composed of similar phospholipid bilayers. Disrupting bacterial cell membranes can also affect human cell membranes, leading to toxicity. ‖‖ b ⋮ Selectivity: Antibiotics targeting bacterial cell wall synthesis (e.g., penicillin) are more selective because human cells do not have cell walls. This reduces the risk of harming human cells. ‖‖ c ⋮ Protein Synthesis: Antibiotics targeting bacterial protein synthesis (e.g., tetracyclines) exploit differences between bacterial ribosomes and human ribosomes, making them less harmful to human cells. ‖ ∻Key Concept∻ ⚹ Selectivity of antibiotic action ⚹ ∻Explanation∻ ⚹ Antibiotics that target bacterial cell walls or protein synthesis are more selective for bacteria and less likely to harm human cells, whereas those targeting cell membranes can affect both bacterial and human cells due to structural similarities. ⚹◊How do antibiotics that disrupt cell membranes affect human cells compared to bacterial cells⍭ Generate me a similar question◊

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