De virker ved at binde sig til 50S ribosom fragmentet, hvilket derved forhindrer aminoacyl- tRNA bindingen, som igen hæmmer peptidyltransferasereaktionen, der interfererer med bakteriernes proteinsyntese.
They work by binding to the 50S ribosomal subunit, therefore hindering the aminoacyl-tRNA binding and inhibiting the peptidyltransferase reaction, which interferes with protein synthesis within the bacteria.