UMP kinase (PyrH) is an essential enzyme found only in bacteria, making it ideal as a target for the discovery of antibacterials. To identify inhibitors of PyrH, an assay employing Staphylococcus aureus PyrH coupled to pyruvate kinase/lactate dehydrogenase was developed and was used to perform a high throughput screen. A validated aminopyrimidine series was identified from screening. Kinetic characterization of this aminopyrimidine indicated it was a competitive inhibitor of ATP. We have shown that HTS can be used to identify potential leads for this novel target, the first ATP competitive inhibitor of PyrH reported.
Keywords: Antibacterial targets; HTS; Inhibitor; PyrH; Screening; UMP kinase.
Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.