Discovery of the first inhibitors of bacterial enzyme D-aspartate ligase from Enterococcus faecium (Aslfm).

The D-aspartate ligase of Enterococcus faecium (Aslfm) is an attractive target for the development of narrow-spectrum antibacterial agents that are active against multidrug-resistant E. faecium. Although there is currently little available information regarding the structural characteristics of Aslfm, we exploited the knowledge that this enzyme belongs to the ATP-grasp superfamily to target its ATP binding site.