From Complex Natural Products to Simple Synthetic Mimetics by Computational de Novo Design
We present the computational de novo design of synthetically accessible chemical entities that mimic the complex sesquiterpene natural product (-)-Englerin A. We synthesized lead-like probes from commercially available building blocks and profiled them for activity against a computationally predicted panel of macromolecular targets. Both the design template (-)-Englerin A and its low-molecular weight mimetics presented nanomolar binding affinities and antagonized the transient receptor potential calcium channel TRPM8 in a cell-based assay, without showing target promiscuity or frequent-hitter properties. This proof-of-concept study outlines an expeditious solution to obtaining natural-product-inspired chemical matter with desirable properties.
Superiority of the carbamoylmethyl ester as an acyl donor for the kinetically controlled amide-bond formation mediated by α-chymotrypsin
The superiority of the carbamoylmethyl ester as an acyl donor for the α-chymotrypsin-catalysed kinetically controlled peptide-bond formation is demonstrated in the couplings of an inherently poor amino acid substrate, Ala, with various amino acid residues as amino components and in the couplings of non-protein amino acids such as halogenophenylalanines as carboxylic components. Furthermore, this approach is applied to the amide-bond formation between an amino acid residue and a chiral amine, which is highly diastereoselective.
α-chymotrypsin-catalysed peptide synthesis via the kinetically controlled approach using activated esters as acyl donors in organic solvents with low water content: Incorporation of non-protein amino acids into peptides
The α-chymotrypsin-catalyzed peptide synthesis via the kinetically controlled approach using activated esters as acyl donors in orgnanic solvents with low water content was presented. The methyl esters of N-Z derivatives of racemic non-protein amino acids were chosen as carboxy components. They allowed the peptide-bond formation and optical resolution simultaneously to yield homochiral peptides. This method is useful for the incorporation of non-protein amino acids into peptides.