ReviewNature reviews. Microbiology2021
Proximate and ultimate causes of the bactericidal action of antibiotics.
Review in Nature reviews. Microbiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 116 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
116 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- β-lactam antibiotics vs vancomycin in treating methicillin-sensitive staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections: a meta-analysis of clinical outcomes.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2025Pooled it
- Repurposing Ponatinib Hydrochloride as an Antibacterial and Antibiofilm Agent Against Multidrug-ResistantMicroorganisms · 2026Article
- Antibacterial Activity and Mechanism of Action of Motuo Citron Essential Oil onFoods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The SlpX protein of Lactobacillus acidophilus CICC6074 has anti-inflammatory properties and protects Caco-2 intestinal epithelial cells from TNF-α-induced barrier damage.Journal of the science of food and agriculture · 2026Article
- Antibacterial Activity of α-Sulfamidophosphonate Derivatives and Their In Silico Assessment as Dihydropteroate Synthase Binders.Chemistry & biodiversity · 2026Article
- Aminotetrazole-Gold Nanocomplexes Shunt Electrons to Eradicate Bacteria Without ROS-Induced Resistance.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2026Article
- Beyond resistance and tolerance: rethinking evolutionary responses to antibiotics from the perspective of individual bacterial cells.Nature communications · 2026Review
- Review
- Optimization of probiotic-mediated selenium nanoparticles for superior antibacterial action against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.Discover nano · 2026Article
- Anthraquinones derived from soil actinomycetes combat multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Usnic Acid Derivatives as Inhibitors ofInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Appraisal of Multidrug-ResistantAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Large-scale testing of antimicrobial lethality at single-cell resolution predicts mycobacterial infection outcomes.Nature microbiology · 2026Article
- Article
- Fatal Panton-Valentine leukocidin-positive MSSA toxic shock syndrome: a call for rapid virulence detection and optimized antimicrobial therapy.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Article
- Bacteriophages as an alternative strategy for the treatment of drug resistant bacterial infections: Current approaches and future perspectives.Cell surface (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2025Review
- Principles of bacteriostatic and bactericidal antibiotics at subinhibitory concentrations.mBio · 2025Article
- Montelukast treatsMicrobiology spectrum · 2025Article
- Hijacking anaerobic metabolism to restore antibiotic efficacy inApplied and environmental microbiology · 2025Article
- Emergence of carbapenem-resistantMicrobiology spectrum · 2025Article
56 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
During the past 85 years of antibiotic use, we have learned a great deal about how these 'miracle' drugs work. We know the molecular structures and interactions of these drugs and their targets and the effects on the structure, physiology and replication of bacteria. Collectively, we know a great deal about these proximate mechanisms of action for virtually all antibiotics in current use. What we do not know is the ultimate mechanism of action; that is, how these drugs irreversibly terminate the 'individuality' of bacterial cells by removing barriers to the external world (cell envelopes) or by destroying their genetic identity (DNA). Antibiotics have many different 'mechanisms of action' that converge to irreversible lethal effects. In this Perspective, we consider what our knowledge of the proximate mechanisms of action of antibiotics and the pharmacodynamics of their interaction with bacteria tell us about the ultimate mechanisms by which these antibiotics kill bacteria.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.