The bacterium Staphylococcus aureus may cause life-threatening hospital-acquired infections. S. aureus uses the sortase A (SrtA) cysteine transpeptidase to display surface protein virulence factors. Researchers at UCLA applied NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry to determine the mechanism of SrtA inhibition, using a highly soluble analogue of pyridazinone. Aided by computational chemistry, several compounds with high inhibitor activity were synthesized, suggesting that pyridazinone analogues are promising anti-infective drug candidates. NMR and MS instruments used in the study were supported by the S10OD016336 and S10RR025631 shared instrumentation awards; a total of 64 publications report data collected with these instruments.