Unveiling MurM inhibitors in Enterococcus faecalis V583: a promising approach to tackle antibiotic resistance

Enterococcus faecalis is commonly found in the GI tract of humans and animals. It causes various infections, especially in hospital environments, and shows growing antibiotic resistance. This study utilized a subtractive proteomics approach to find out the potential drug targets in E. faecalis. Unique metabolic pathways were analysed and compared to the host to minimize adverse effects. Among twenty nine pathogenic specific and seventy three host-pathogen common pathways identified using the KEGG database, sixty seven essential proteins were found through the DEG BLAST search. PSORTB predicted that forty cytoplasmic proteins could be suitable as druggable targets. Further analysis identified fourteen proteins with virulence properties using the VFDB BLAST. Among these, seven proteins with more than ten antigenic sites were subjected to DrugBank BLAST, identifying three novel and four existing drug targets. One of the crucial drug targets, MurM, was selected due to its critical role in peptidoglycan biosynthesis. The reason for selecting MurM is crucial for addressing antibiotic resistance, disrupting bacterial cell wall synthesis, and attaining selective antimicrobial activity. MurM belongs to the mixed αβ class with two functional domains. The possible binding site residues of MurM are Trp31, Lys35, Trp38, Arg215, and Tyr219. Virtual screening identified potential lead candidates for MurM, and four were selected based on their physiochemical, pharmacokinetic, and structural properties. This study provides valuable insights into identifying and analysing a potential drug target, the MurM protein, and its inhibitors in E. faecalis V583.