Effects of beta-lactam antibiotics on eukaryotic cells.

A symposium on effects of beta-lactam antibiotics on eukaryotic cells was held as part of the 9th International Congress of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases (Munich, Germany, July 1986). This symposium provided an opportunity to review recent work on the effect of beta-lactam structures on mammalian cells in culture and to speculate on possible clinical implications. This paper is a comment on the subject matter covered by the symposium papers which follow.