Cell wall synthesis
When administered, B-lactam antibiotics, such as penicillins and cephalosporins, bind to certain proteins or amino acids in the cell wall and interfere with peptidoglycan cross-linking. When the antibiotics bind, they take the place of peptidoglycan that is meant to cross-link at that site. Antibiotics with the B-lactam ring resemble components of murein, specifically D-alanine-D-alanine.
By inhibiting cell wall synthesis, antibiotics cause the cell to undergo autolysis. The cell ends up exploding because the cell wall can no longer accommodate the expanding interior.
There are two main areas of attack directed towards the cell wall and membrane. The first tries to stop cell wall expansion. The cell walls of a bacterium (fungi lack cell walls) are continuously expanding through the synthesis of peptidoglycan, a polymer of sugars and amino acids, otherwise known as murein. To grow, reproduce, and spread, the cell wall must be able to expand with the growing interior.
