Discovery and Characterization of a Class of Pyrazole Inhibitors of Bacterial Undecaprenyl Pyrophosphate Synthase.
Concha, N., Huang, J., Bai, X., Benowitz, A., Brady, P., Grady, L.C., Kryn, L.H., Holmes, D., Ingraham, K., Jin, Q., Pothier Kaushansky, L., McCloskey, L., Messer, J.A., O'Keefe, H., Patel, A., Satz, A.L., Sinnamon, R.H., Schneck, J., Skinner, S.R., Summerfield, J., Taylor, A., Taylor, J.D., Evindar, G., Stavenger, R.A.(2016) J Med Chem 59: 7299-7304
- PubMed: 27379833 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.6b00746
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
5KH2, 5KH4, 5KH5 - PubMed Abstract: 
Undecaprenyl pyrophosphate synthase (UppS) is an essential enzyme in bacterial cell wall synthesis. Here we report the discovery of Staphylococcus aureus UppS inhibitors from an Encoded Library Technology screen and demonstrate binding to the hydrophobic substrate site through cocrystallography studies. The use of bacterial strains with regulated uppS expression and inhibitor resistant mutant studies confirmed that the whole cell activity was the result of UppS inhibition, validating UppS as a druggable antibacterial target.
Organizational Affiliation: 
GlaxoSmithKline , 1250 S. Collegeville Road, Collegeville, Pennsylvania 19426, United States.