Target essentiality |
Targets essential to the pathogen under conditions pertaining in the host |
Targets essential under standard growth conditions in the laboratory |
Target selectivity |
Multiple targets of ROS, RNS, CO, AMPs |
Single target |
Target conservation |
Targets often present in host as well as in pathogen |
Target absent in host |
Suitable target classes |
Many: synthesis of nucleic acids, proteins, cell walls, or folate, but also induction, synthesis, secretion, or action of virulence factors; energy generation; ion gradients; transport; signaling; processing; repair; degradation; sequestration |
Few: Synthesis of nucleic acids, proteins, cell walls, or folate |
Microbial species specificity |
Combination of broad spectrum and narrow spectrum |
Broad spectrum |
Host toxicity |
Inescapable; almost always manageable and reparable |
Forbidden when predictable |
Genotoxicity |
Inescapable; very rarely consequential |
Forbidden |