Janina Schmitz

A Coumarin-Labeled Vinyl Sulfone as Tripeptidomimetic Activity-Based Probe for Cysteine Cathepsins

A coumarin‐tetrahydroquinoline hydride 8 was synthesized as a chemical tool for fluorescent labeling. The rigidified tricyclic coumarin structure was chosen for its suitable fluorescence properties. The connection of 8 with a vinyl sulfone building block was accomplished by convergent synthesis thereby leading to the coumarin‐based, tripeptidomimetic activity‐based probe 10, containing a Gly‐Phe‐Gly motif. Probe 10 was evaluated as inactivator of the therapeutically relevant human cysteine cathepsins S, L, K, and B: it showed particularly strong inactivation of cathepsin S. The detection of recombinant and native cathepsin S was demonstrated by applying 10 to in‐gel fluorescence imaging.

Selective Nitrile Inhibitors To Modulate the Proteolytic Synergism of Cathepsins S and F

A series of dipeptide nitriles with different P3 substituents was designed to explore the S3 binding pocket of cathepsin S. Racemic 7-16 and the enantiopure derivative (R)-22 proved to be potent inhibitors of human cathepsin S and exhibited notable selectivity over human cathepsins L, K, and B. Inhibition of cathepsin F, the functional synergist of cathepsin S, was not observed. The azadipeptide analogue of 22, compound 26, was highly potent but nonselective.

An access to aza-Freidinger lactams and E-locked analogs.

Freidinger lactams, possessing a peptide bond configuration locked to Z, are important key elements of conformationally restricted peptidomimetics. In the present work, the C(α)H(i+1) unit has been replaced by N, leading to novel aza-Freidinger lactams. A synthesis to corresponding building blocks and their E-locked analogs is introduced. The versatile buildings blocks reported here are expected to serve as useful elements in peptide synthesis.

Evaluation of dipeptide nitriles as inhibitors of rhodesain, a major cysteine protease of Trypanosoma brucei.

A series of dipeptide nitriles known as inhibitors of mammalian cathepsins were evaluated for inhibition of rhodesain, the cathepsin L-like protease of Trypanosoma brucei. Compound 35 consisting of a Leu residue fitting into the S2 pocket and a triarylic moiety consisting of thiophene, a 1,2,4-oxadiazole and a phenyl ring fitting into the S3 pocket, and compound 33 with a 3-bromo-Phe residue (S2) and a biphenyl fragment (S3) were found to inhibit rhodesain in the single-digit nanomolar range. The observed steep structure-activity relationship could be explained by covalent docking simulations. With their high selectivity indices (ca. 200) and the good antitrypanosomal activity (8μM) the compounds represent promising starting points for new rhodesain inhibitors.

Cathepsin B Inhibitors: Combining Dipeptide Nitriles with an Occluding Loop Recognition Element by Click Chemistry

An active site mapping of human cathepsin B with dipeptide nitrile inhibitors was performed for a combinatorial approach by introducing several points of diversity and stepwise optimizing the inhibitor structure. To address the occluding loop of cathepsin B by a carboxylate moiety, click chemistry to generate linker-connected molecules was applied. Inhibitor 17 exhibited K i values of 41.3 nM, 27.3 nM, or 19.2 nM, depending on the substrate and pH of the assay. Kinetic data were discussed with respect to the conformational selection and induced fit models.

3-Cyano-3-aza-β-amino Acid Derivatives as Inhibitors of Human Cysteine Cathepsins.

Nitrile-type inhibitors are known to interact with cysteine proteases in a covalent-reversible manner. The chemotype of 3-cyano-3-aza-β-amino acid derivatives was designed in which the N-cyano group is centrally arranged in the molecule to allow for interactions with the nonprimed and primed binding regions of the target enzymes. These compounds were evaluated as inhibitors of the human cysteine cathepsins K, S, B, and L. They exhibited slow-binding behavior and were found to be exceptionally potent, in particular toward cathepsin K, with second-order rate constants up to 52 900 × 10(3) M(-1) s(-1).

Synthesis and kinetic evaluation of ethyl acrylate and vinyl sulfone derived inhibitors for human cysteine cathepsins

A series of inhibitors targeting human cathepsins have been designed and synthesized following a combinatorial approach. The compounds bear an α,β-unsaturated phenyl vinyl sulfone or ethyl acrylate warhead and a peptidomimetic portion aligned to the non-primed binding region. Biochemical evaluation toward four human cathepsins was carried out and the kinetic characterization confirmed an irreversible mode of inhibition. Compound 6c combining the most advantageous building blocks for cathepsin S inhibition was identified as a potent cathepsin S inactivator exhibiting a second-order rate constant of 30600 M-1 s-1.

Cathepsin B: Active Site Mapping with Peptidic Substrates and Inhibitors

The potential of papain-like cysteine proteases, such as cathepsin B, as drug discovery targets for systemic human diseases has prevailed over the past years. The development of potent and selective low-molecular cathepsin B inhibitors relies on the detailed expertise on preferred amino acid and inhibitor residues interacting with the corresponding specificity pockets of cathepsin B. Such knowledge might be obtained by mapping the active site of the protease with combinatorial libraries of peptidic substrates and peptidomimetic inhibitors. This review, for the first time, summarizes a wide spectrum of active site mapping approaches. It considers relevant X-ray crystallographic data and discloses propensities towards favorable protein-ligand interactions in case of the therapeutically relevant protease cathepsin B.