title: Beta-lactamases: a new twist to an old problem.
abstract: Beta-lactamases have been known for as long as penicillin has been used for chemotherapy. Their importance to man is that they are overwhelmingly responsible for bacterial resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics, i.e. those similar to penicillin and the cephalosporins.
authors.affiliation: Public Health Laboratory, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: W W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Nichols
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000502:physiology; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D001618:beta-Lactamases / Q000378:metabolism*; D047090:beta-Lactams
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D047090:beta-Lactams; D001618:beta-Lactamases