Adam Prahl

The Multi-Leu Peptide Inhibitor Discriminates Between PACE4 and Furin And Exhibits Antiproliferative Effects On Prostate Cancer Cells

The proprotein convertases (PCs) play an important role in protein precursor activation through processing at paired basic residues. However, significant substrate cleavage redundancy has been reported between PCs. The question remains whether specific PC inhibitors can be designed. This study describes the identification of the sequence LLLLRVKR, named Multi-Leu (ML)-peptide, that displayed a 20-fold selectivity on PACE4 over furin, two enzymes with similar structural characteristics. We have previously demonstrated that PACE4 plays an important role in prostate cancer and could be a druggable target. The present study demonstrates that the ML-peptide significantly reduced the proliferation of DU145 and LNCaP prostate cancer-derived cell lines and induced G0/G1 cell cycle arrest. However, the ML-peptide must enter the cell to inhibit proliferation. It is concluded that peptide-based inhibitors can yield specific PC inhibitors and that the ML-peptide is an important lead compound that could potentially have applications in prostate cancer.

New bradykinin analogs in contraction of rat uterus

In this study, we evaluated 20 of our previously synthesized peptides on isolated rat uterus by Holtons procedure with minor modifications, and compared their activity with that assessed previously by their ability to inhibit vasodepressor response to exogenous bradykinin (BK) in conscious rats. We used [D-Arg(0), Hyp(3), Thi(5, 8), (D-Phe)(7)]BK, the B(2) antagonist of Vavrek and Stewart as a model when designing our analogs. We observed that, in the case of the rat uterus test, the activity of peptides modified by acylation of the N-terminus with various bulky groups depends substantially on the chemical character of the substituent. We also learned that, contrary to previous examples, acylation of the N-terminus of antagonists, which contain a sterically restricted fragment in the C-terminal part, may not improve their antagonistic potencies. Besides an improved characterization of a series BK analogs, our studies have provided new information on the structure-activity relationship, which in turn may be of value in the design of more potent and selective bradykinin antagonists. The results of our studies appear to support the hypothesis of others about the presence of different subtypes of B(2) receptors in rat uterus and blood vessels.

Design, Synthesis, and Structure−Activity Relationship Studies of a Potent PACE4 Inhibitor

PACE4 plays an important role in the progression of prostate cancer and is an attractive target for the development of novel inhibitor-based tumor therapies. We previously reported the design and synthesis of a novel, potent, and relatively selective PACE4 inhibitor known as a Multi-Leu (ML) peptide. In the present work, we examined the ML peptide through detailed structure-activity relationship studies. A variety of ML-peptide analogues modified at the P8-P5 positions with leucine isomers (Nle, DLeu, and DNle) or substituted at the P1 position with arginine mimetics were tested for their inhibitory activity, specificity, stability, and antiproliferative effect. By incorporating d isomers at the P8 position or a decarboxylated arginine mimetic, we obtained analogues with an improved stability profile and excellent antiproliferative properties. The DLeu or DNle residue also has improved specificity toward PACE4, whereas specificity was reduced for a peptide modified with the arginine mimetic, such as 4-amidinobenzylamide.

Novel analogues of arginine vasopressin containing α-2-indanylglycine enantiomers in position 2

Continuing our efforts to obtain potent and selective analogues of AVP we synthesized and pharmacologically evaluated ten new compounds modified at position 2 with α‐2‐indanylglycine or its D‐enantiomer (Igl or D‐Igl, respectively). All the peptides were tested for pressor, antidiuretic, and in vitro uterotonic activities. We also determined the binding affinity of these compounds to human OT receptor. The Igl2 substitution resulted in a significant change of the pharmacological profile of the peptides. The new analogues were moderate or potent OT antagonists (pA2 values ranging from 7.19 to 7.98) and practically did not interact with V1a and V2 receptors. It is worth emphasizing that these new peptides were exceptionally selective. On the other hand, the D‐Igl2 substituted counterparts turned out to be weak antagonists of the pressor response to AVP and displayed no antidiuretic activity. Some of the results were unexpected, e.g. dual activity in the rat uterotonic test in vitro: the D‐Igl peptides showed a strong antioxytocic potency (pA2 values ranging from 7.70 to 8.20) at low concentrations and full agonism at high concentrations. The results provided useful information about the SAR of AVP analogues. Copyright

Simultaneous Separation of Eight Benzodiazepines in Human Urine Using Field-Amplified Sample Stacking Micellar Electrokinetic Chromatography

A novel approach for the simultaneous quantification of eight benzodiazepines (BZDs) using dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) and field-amplified sample stacking (FASS) combined with micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) was investigated and evaluated in the context of precision, accuracy, sensitivity, linearity, detection and limits of quantification (LOQ). The absolute recovery rates of BZDs were above 90.65%. The limits of detection (LOD) were 20 ng/mL for chlordiazepoxide, estazolam, temazepam and midazolam, and 30 ng/mL for clonazepam, lorazepam, lormetazepam and medazepam, while the LOQ was set at 50 ng/mL for chlordiazepoxide, estazolam, temazepam and midazolam, and 100 ng/mL for clonazepam, lorazepam, lormetazepam and medazepam. Linearity was confirmed in the range of 50-2,000 ng/mL for chlordiazepoxide, estazolam, temazepam and midazolam, and 100-2,000 ng/mL for clonazepam, lorazepam, lormetazepam and medazepam, with a correlation coefficient greater than 0.9987 for all analytes. The elaborated procedure meets all the requirements of analytical methods. During the extraction procedure, a mixture of 1 mL of ethanol and 500 µL of dichloromethane, used as the disperser and extraction solvent, respectively, was rapidly injected into 3 mL of a urine sample. A significant improvement in sensitivity was achieved when DLLME was used to extract BZDs from the urine sample and FASS as an on-line preconcentration technique was developed. For the best separation of analytes, the running buffer was composed of 30 mM SDS, 10 mM sodium tetraborate and 15% methanol (pH 8.8), whereas a sample buffer was composed of 10 mM SDS and 2 mM sodium tetraborate. Moreover, a fused-silica capillary [inner diameter (i.d.) of 75 µm and length of 50 cm], photodiode array detection, pneumatic injection for 15 s and a voltage of 23 kV were applied. The applicability of the method has been confirmed for the analysis of BZD in urine samples collected from patients who were treated with or abused these drugs.

Interaction of Bradykinin and B2 Bradykinin Receptor Antagonists with Colloidal Au Surface Explored by Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering

Bradykinin (BK), an endogenous peptide hormone, which is involved in a number of physiological and pathophysiological processes, and the potent B2 bradykinin receptor antagonists, [D-Arg0,Hyp3,Thi5,8,L-Pip7]BK, Aaa[D-Arg0,Hyp3,Thi5,8,L-Pip7]BK, [D-Arg0,Hyp3,Thi5,D-Phe7,L-Pip8]BK, and Aaa[D-Arg0,Hyp3,Thi5,D-Phe7,L-Pip8]BK, were deposited onto colloidal Au particles of 20 nm size. Interaction of these molecules with colloidal Au surface was explored by surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Briefly, it was shown that BK adsorbs on the Au surface mainly through the Phe5/Phe8 residues. In case of the BK specifically modified analogues mainly the Pip and Thi rings are involved in the interaction process; however, Pip and Thi adopt slightly different orientation with respect to Au for each of the analogues. In addition, the lack of the Aaa vibrations, together with the enhancement of the Thi, Pip, or Phe modes, emphasizes the importance of the C-terminus in the interaction with the Au surface.

Novel Bradykinin Analogues Modified in the N-Terminal Part of the Molecule with a Variety of Acyl Substituents

In the current work we present some pharmacological characteristics of ten new analogues of bradykinin (Arg–Pro–Pro–Gly–Phe–Ser–Pro–Phe–Arg) modified in the N-terminal part of the molecule with a variety of acyl substituents. Of the many acylating agents used previously with B2 receptor antagonists, the following residues were chosen: 1-adamantaneacetic acid (Aaa), 1-adamantanecarboxylic acid (Aca), 4-tert-butylbenzoic acid (t-Bba), 4-aminobenzoic acid (Aba), 12-aminododecanoic acid (Adc), succinic acid (Sua), 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzoic acid, 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)propionic acid and 6-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid. Biological activity of the compounds was assessed in the in vivo rat blood pressure test and the in vitro rat uterus test. Surprisingly, N-terminal substitution of the bradykinin peptide chain itself with aforementioned groups resulted in antagonists of bradykinin in the pressor test and suppressed agonistic potency in the uterotonic test. These interesting findings need further studies as they can be helpful for designing more potent B2 receptor blockers.

Highly Potent Antidiuretic Antagonists: Conformational Studies of Vasopressin Analogues Modified with 1-Naphthylalanine Enantiomers at Position 2

In this paper, we investigated the structure–activity relationship of two vasopressin analogues, [Cpa1,(L‐1‐Nal)2]AVP (I) and [Cpa1,(D‐Nal)2]AVP (II) by NMR spectroscopy and molecular modeling. Both peptides exhibit antioxytocic and antipressor potency. Inversion of configuration of the residue at position 2 converted a weak antidiuretic agonist (peptide I) into a highly potent antidiuretic antagonist (peptide II). For this reason, the purpose of our study was to explain the causes of different interactions of the analogues with V2 receptors. The results have shown that both analogues display the tendency to adopt β‐turns in the 1–4 and 2–5 fragments, which is characteristic of OT and V1a receptors antagonists. In addition, the [Cpa1,(L‐1‐Nal)2]AVP (I) shows the propensity to assume β‐turn at position 7,8, which is believed to enhance antidiuretic activity, although not being crucial for its appearance. Moreover, the C‐terminal amide group seems to be crucial for signal transduction. Its high accessibility in [Cpa1,(L‐1‐Nal)2]AVP (I) in contrast to [Cpa1,(D‐1‐Nal)2]AVP (II), probably results in V2 receptor activation.

Analogues of AVP modified in the N-terminal part of the molecule with Pip isomers: TFA-catalysed peptide bond hydrolysis.

Using SPPS techniques, six new analogues of AVP and some of its agonists were synthesised. The peptides were designed by substitution of Phe at position 3 of AVP, [Mpa1] AVP (dAVP) and [Mpa1,Val4,D‐Arg8]VP (dVDAVP) with L‐ or D‐Pip, a non‐coded α‐imino acid, also called homoproline. Surprisingly enough, both the analogues of AVP and [Mpa1]AVP with identical substituents at position 2 turned out to be highly sensitive to TFA used for deprotection and cleavage of the synthesised peptides from the resin and it was the reason why we were not able to obtain these four peptides. The mechanisms of their fragmentation were proposed in this study. Unfortunately, all the new analogues were inactive in bioassays for the pressor, antidiuretic and uterotonic invitro activities in the rat. Copyright

Positional Scanning Identifies the Molecular Determinants of a High Affinity Multi-Leucine Inhibitor for Furin and PACE4

The proprotein convertase family of enzymes includes seven endoproteases with significant redundancy in their cleavage activity. We previously described the peptide Ac-LLLLRVK-Amba that displays potent inhibitory effects on both PACE4 and prostate cancer cell lines proliferation. Herein, the molecular determinants for PACE4 and furin inhibition were investigated by positional scanning using peptide libraries that substituted its leucine core with each natural amino acid. We determined that the incorporation of basic amino acids led to analogues with improved inhibitory potency toward both enzymes, whereas negatively charged residues significantly reduced it. All the remaining amino acids were in general well tolerated, with the exemption of the P6 position. However, not all of the potent PACE4 inhibitors displayed antiproliferative activity. The best analogues were obtained by the incorporation of the Ile residue at the P5 and P6 positions. These substitutions led to inhibitors with increased PACE4 selectivity and potent antiproliferative effects.