Beta-lactamases: a new twist to an old problem.
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.
Nichols
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Public Health Laboratory, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford, UK.
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
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D047090:beta-Lactams; D001618:beta-Lactamases