Cyclo(L-Phe-L-Phe)

In continuation of our search for bioactive secondary metabolites from terrestrial Bacillus spp., a new microbial diketopiperazine, cis-cyclo-(His,Leu) (1) was isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of a strain B. subtilis B38, together with cis-cyclo-(Phe,Phe) (2), tryptophane (3), cis-cyclo-(Leu,Tyr) (4), cis-cyclo-(Trp,Tyr) (5) and macrolactin A (6). The chemical structures of the isolated compounds were identified by comparison of their 1D, 2D NMR and HRESIMS data with authentic spectra and literatures. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that cyclo-(His,Leu) has been isolated from natural products.

Inhibition of pathogenic protein aggregation may be an important and straightforward therapeutic strategy for curing amyloid diseases. Small-molecule aggregation inhibitors of Alzheimer's amyloid-β (Aβ) are extremely scarce, however, and are mainly restricted to dye- and polyphenol-type compounds that lack drug-likeness. Based on the structure-activity relationship of cyclic Aβ16-20 (cyclo-[KLVFF]), we identified unique pharmacophore motifs comprising side-chains of Leu(2), Val(3), Phe(4), and Phe(5) residues without involvement of the backbone amide bonds to inhibit Aβ aggregation. This finding allowed us to design non-peptidic, small-molecule aggregation inhibitors that possess potent activity. These molecules are the first successful non-peptidic, small-molecule aggregation inhibitors of amyloids based on rational molecular design.