Peptide-based covalent inhibitors of protein-protein interactions.

Protein-protein interactions (PPI) are involved in all cellular processes and many represent attractive therapeutic targets. However, the frequently rather flat and large interaction areas render the identification of small molecular PPI inhibitors very challenging. As an alternative, peptide interaction motifs derived from a PPI interface can serve as starting points for the development of inhibitors. However, certain proteins remain challenging targets when applying inhibitors with a competitive mode of action. For that reason, peptide-based ligands with an irreversible binding mode have gained attention in recent years. This review summarizes examples of covalent inhibitors that employ peptidic binders and have been tested in a biological context.

Covalent Proteomimetic Inhibitor of the Bacterial FtsQB Divisome Complex.

The use of antibiotics is threatened by the emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant strains of bacteria. Thus, there is a need to develop antibiotics that address new targets. In this respect, the bacterial divisome, a multi-protein complex central to cell division, represents a potentially attractive target. Of particular interest is the FtsQB subcomplex that plays a decisive role in divisome assembly and peptidoglycan biogenesis in E. coli. Here, we report the structure-based design of a macrocyclic covalent inhibitor derived from a periplasmic region of FtsB that mediates its binding to FtsQ. The bioactive conformation of this motif was stabilized by a customized cross-link resulting in a tertiary structure mimetic with increased affinity for FtsQ. To increase activity, a covalent handle was incorporated, providing an inhibitor that impedes the interaction between FtsQ and FtsB irreversibly. The covalent inhibitor reduced the growth of an outer membrane-permeable E. coli strain, concurrent with the expected loss of FtsB localization, and also affected the infection of zebrafish larvae by a clinical E. coli strain. This first-in-class inhibitor of a divisome protein-protein interaction highlights the potential of proteomimetic molecules as inhibitors of challenging targets. In particular, the covalent mode-of-action can serve as an inspiration for future antibiotics that target protein-protein interactions.

Stapling of Peptides Potentiates the Antibiotic Treatment of Acinetobacter baumannii In Vivo.

The rising incidence of multidrug resistance in Gram-negative bacteria underlines the urgency for novel treatment options. One promising new approach is the synergistic combination of antibiotics with antimicrobial peptides. However, the use of such peptides is not straightforward; they are often sensitive to proteolytic degradation, which greatly limits their clinical potential. One approach to increase stability is to apply a hydrocarbon staple to the antimicrobial peptide, thereby fixing them in an α-helical conformation, which renders them less exposed to proteolytic activity. In this work we applied several different hydrocarbon staples to two previously described peptides shown to act on the outer membrane, L6 and L8, and tested their activity in a zebrafish embryo infection model using a clinical isolate of Acinetobacter baumannii as a pathogen. We show that the introduction of such a hydrocarbon staple to the peptide L8 improves its in vivo potentiating activity on antibiotic treatment, without increasing its in vivo antimicrobial activity, toxicity or hemolytic activity.

Selective, Catalytic, and Metal-Free Coupling of Electron-Rich Phenols and Anilides Using Molecular Oxygen as Terminal Oxidant.

Selective oxidative homo- and cross-coupling of electron-rich phenols and anilides was developed using nitrosonium tetrafluoroborate as a catalyst. Oxidative coupling of phenols revealed unusual selectivities, which translated into the unprecedented synthesis of inverse Pummerer-type ketones. Mechanistic studies suggest that oxidative coupling of phenols and anilides shares a common pathway via homolytical heteroatom-hydrogen bond cleavage. Nitrosonium salt catalysis was applied for cross-dehydrogenative coupling initiated by generation of heteroatom-centered radicals.

Aerobic, Metal-Free, and Catalytic Dehydrogenative Coupling of Heterocycles: En Route to Hedgehog Signaling Pathway Inhibitors.

The nitrosonium ion-catalyzed dehydrogenative coupling of heteroarenes under mild reaction conditions is reported. The developed method utilizes ambient molecular oxygen as a terminal oxidant, and only water is produced as byproduct. Dehydrogenative coupling of heteroarenes translated into the rapid discovery of novel hedgehog signaling pathway inhibitors, emphasizing the importance of the developed methodology.