Final answer:
Polymyxins are antibiotics that damage bacterial plasma membranes by disrupting their structure, leading to cell death through the loss of selective permeability.
Step-by-step explanation:
Examples of drugs that cause injury to the plasma membrane include certain antibiotics such as polymyxins. They work by disrupting the membrane's structure, leading to cell death.Drugs that damage the plasma membrane, like polymyxins, target the phospholipid bilayer of bacterial cells. Their interaction perturbs the structure and function of the membrane, creating holes and allowing essential cellular contents to leak out. This disruption compromises the selective permeability of the membrane, essential for cell survival, resulting in bacterial cell death. Antibiotics like these exploit the differences between human cell membranes and bacterial membranes to target harmful bacteria specifically, minimizing damage to the host's cells.
Drugs that cause injury to the plasma membrane can disrupt its structure and function. For example, antibiotics like penicillin interfere with the synthesis of peptidoglycan, a component of the bacterial cell wall. This weakens the cell wall and leads to cell lysis. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like aspirin inhibit an enzyme called cyclooxygenase, which is involved in the production of prostaglandins. Prostaglandins play a role in inflammation and pain sensitivity, so inhibiting their production can result in membrane damage and decreased cell function.