β-lactones as privileged structures for the active-site labeling of versatile bacterial enzyme classes

(Chemical Equation Presented) A chemical proteomic strategy has been applied directly to bacterial proteomes, and b-lactones have been identified as important natural product derivatives with a high affinity to various enzyme classes (see picture). This approach may serve as a potent tool for the identification of novel antibacterial targets, the study of their function, and the definition of novel lead structures for the design of enzyme inhibitors.