RT Book, Section A1 Hilal-Dandan, Randa A1 Brunton, Laurence L. SR Print(0) ID 1127553032 T1 General Principles of Antimicrobial Therapy T2 Goodman and Gilman's Manual of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 2e YR 2016 FD 2016 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9780071769174 LK accessbiomedicalscience.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1127553032 RD 2024/03/28 AB Microorganisms of medical importance fall into 4 categories: bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. Likewise, antibiotics are broadly classified as (1) antibacterial, (2) antiviral, (3) antifungal, and (4) antiparasitic agents. Antimicrobial molecules should be viewed as ligands whose receptors are microbial proteins. The microbial proteins targeted by the antibiotic are essential components of biochemical reactions in the microbes, and interference with these physiological pathways kills the microorganisms. The biochemical processes commonly inhibited include cell wall synthesis in bacteria and fungi, cell membrane synthesis, synthesis of 30s and 50s ribosomal subunits, nucleic acid metabolism, function of topoisomerases, viral proteases, viral integrases, viral envelope fusion proteins, folate synthesis in parasites, and parasitic chemical detoxification processes.