Most antibacterial drugs disrupt or destroy bacterial cellular characteristics that are different from those of eukaryotic cells or that may not even be present in eukaryotic cells, an idea termed ‘selective toxicity'. List and describe at least three cellular features of bacteria that could be targeted to inhibit or kill a bacterial pathogen

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

1. Cell wall: The cell wall of almost all bacteria contains peptidoglycan, a molecule absent in eukaryotic cell walls. Gram-negative cell walls contain unique molecules such as lipopolysaccharide and structures such as porins, which are not present in eukaryotic cells. Additionally, human cells do not have a cell wall at all.
2. Ribosomes: Bacterial ribosomes have a 70S structure, whereas eukaryotic ribosomes have an 80S structure. This difference is enough to allow some drugs to preferentially affect bacterial ribosomes while leaving eukaryotic ribosomes unharmed.
3. Cellular appendages: Although both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells can have flagella, the two types of cells use structurally different types of flagella. Furthermore, many bacteria have fimbriae and pili, which are not found on eukaryotic cells.
4. Cell membrane: Most cells use a phospholipid bilayer with inserted proteins as a cell membrane; however, bacterial cell membranes may contain hopanoids, which are absent in eukaryotic cell membranes.