1. Cis-Configured aziridines are new pseudo-irreversible dual-mode inhibitors of Candida albicans secreted aspartic protease 2
Björn Degel, Peter Staib, Sebastian Rohrer, Josef Scheiber, Erika Martina, Christian Büchold, Knut Baumann, Joachim Morschhäuser, Tanja Schirmeister ChemMedChem. 2008 Feb;3(2):302-15. doi: 10.1002/cmdc.200700101.
A series of cis-configured epoxides and aziridines containing hydrophobic moieties and amino acid esters were synthesized as new potential inhibitors of the secreted aspartic protease 2 (SAP2) of Candida albicans. Enzyme assays revealed the N-benzyl-3-phenyl-substituted aziridines 11 and 17 as the most potent inhibitors, with second-order inhibition rate constants (k(2)) between 56,000 and 121,000 M(-1) min(-1). The compounds were shown to be pseudo-irreversible dual-mode inhibitors: the intermediate esterified enzyme resulting from nucleophilic ring opening was hydrolyzed and yielded amino alcohols as transition-state-mimetic reversible inhibitors. The results of docking studies with the ring-closed aziridine forms of the inhibitors suggest binding modes mainly dominated by hydrophobic interactions with the S1, S1', S2, and S2' subsites of the protease, and docking studies with the processed amino alcohol forms predict additional hydrogen bonds of the new hydroxy group to the active site Asp residues. C. albicans growth assays showed the compounds to decrease SAP2-dependent growth while not affecting SAP2-independent growth.
2. New peptidic cysteine protease inhibitors derived from the electrophilic alpha-amino acid aziridine-2,3-dicarboxylic acid
T Schirmeister J Med Chem. 1999 Feb 25;42(4):560-72. doi: 10.1021/jm981061z.
Three different types of peptides containing aziridine-2, 3-dicarboxylic acid (Azi) as an electrophilic alpha-amino acid at different positions within the peptide chain (type I, N-acylated aziridines with Azi as C-terminal amino acid; type II, N-unsubstituted aziridines with Azi as N-terminal amino acid; type III, N-acylated bispeptidyl derivatives of Azi) have been synthesized and tested as inhibitors of the cysteine proteases papain, cathepsins B, L, and H, and calpains I and II, as well as against several serine proteases, one aspartate, and one metalloprotease. All aziridinyl peptides are specific cysteine protease inhibitors. Papain and cathepsins B and L are inhibited irreversibly, whereas cathepsin H and calpains are inhibited in a non-time-dependent manner. Some compounds turned out to be substrates for serine proteases and for the metalloprotease thermolysin. Remarkable differences can be observed between the three different types of inhibitors concerning stereospecificity, pH dependency of inhibition, selectivity between different cysteine proteases, and the importance of a free carboxylic acid function at the aziridine ring for inhibition. Above all type II inhibitors, aza analogues of the well-known epoxysuccinyl peptides, are potent cysteine protease inhibitors. With the exception of BOC-Leu-Gly-(S, S+R,R)-Azi-(OEt)2 (28a+b), a highly selective and potent cathepsin L inhibitor, N-acylated aziridines of type I are weaker inhibitors than type II or type III compounds. The observed results can be explained by different binding modes of the three types of inhibitors with respect to their orientation in the S- and S'-binding sites of the enzymes. Furthermore, the presence of a protonated aziridine N modifies the binding mode of type II inhibitors.
3. Design and synthesis of novel imidazole-substituted dipeptide amides as potent and selective inhibitors of Candida albicans myristoylCoA:protein N-myristoyltransferase and identification of related tripeptide inhibitors with mechanism-based antifungal activity
B Devadas, et al. J Med Chem. 1997 Aug 1;40(16):2609-25. doi: 10.1021/jm970094w.
A new class of antifungal agents has been discovered which exert their activity by blockade of myristoylCoA: protein N-myristoyltransferase (NMT; EC 2.1.3.97). Genetic experiments have established that NMT is needed to maintain the viability of Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans,the two principal causes of systemic fungal infections in immunocompromised humans. Beginning with a weak octapeptide inhibitor ALYASKLS-NH2 (2, Ki = 15.3 +/- 6.4 microM), a series of imidazole-substituted Ser-Lys dipeptide amides have been designed and synthesized as potent and selective inhibitors of Candida albicans NMT.
