Scalable Synthesis of All Stereoisomers of 2-Aminocyclopentanecarboxylic Acid─A Toolbox for Peptide Foldamer Chemistry.

Although the construction of peptides with well-defined three-dimensional structures and predictable functions, including biological activity, using conformationally constrained β-amino acids has been shown to be a very successful strategy, their broad application is limited by access to the appropriate building blocks. In particular, - and -stereoisomers of 2-aminocyclopentanecarboxylic acid (ACPC) are of high interest. The scalable synthesis of all four stereoisomers of Fmoc derivatives of ACPC is presented with NMR-based analysis methods for their enantiomeric purity.

Peptide foldamer-based inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 S protein-human ACE2 interaction.

The entry of the SARS-CoV-2 virus into a human host cell begins with the interaction between the viral spike protein (S protein) and human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2). Therefore, a possible strategy for the treatment of this infection is based on inhibiting the interaction of the two abovementioned proteins. Compounds that bind to the SARS-CoV-2 S protein at the interface with the alpha-1/alpha-2 helices of ACE2 PD Subdomain I are of particular interest.

Controlling the conformational stability of coiled-coil peptides with a single stereogenic center of a peripheral β-amino acid residue.

The key issue in the research on foldamers remains the understanding of the relationship between the monomers structure and conformational properties at the oligomer level. In peptidomimetic foldamers, the main goal of which is to mimic the structure of proteins, a main challenge is still better understanding of the folding of peptides and the factors that influence their conformational stability. We probed the impact of the modification of the peptide periphery with - and -2-aminocyclopentanecarboxylic acid (ACPC) on the structure and stability of the model coiled-coil using circular dichroism (CD), analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC) and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (2D NMR).

Constrained beta-amino acid-containing miniproteins.

The construction of β-amino acid-containing peptides that fold to tertiary structures in solution remains challenging. Two model miniproteins, namely, Trp-cage and FSD, were scanned using a constrained β-amino acid in order to evaluate its impact on the folding process. Relationships between forces stabilizing the miniprotein structure and conformational stability of analogues were found.

Towards Foldameric Miniproteins: A Helix-Turn-Helix Motif.

Numerous beta-amino acid containing peptides forming secondary structures have been already described, however the design of higher-order structures remains poorly explored. The methodology allowing construction of sequence patterns containing few rigid secondary element was proposed and experimentally validated. On the basis of 9/10/9/12-helix containing cis-2-aminocyclopentanecarboxylic acid (cis-ACPC) residues arranged in an ααββ sequence pattern, a conformationally stable helix-turn-helix structure was designed.

Hierarchical approach for the rational construction of helix-containing nanofibrils using α,β-peptides.

The rational design of novel self-assembled nanomaterials based on peptides remains a great challenge in modern chemistry. A hierarchical approach for the construction of nanofibrils based on α,β-peptide foldamers is proposed. The incorporation of a helix-promoting trans-(1S,2S)-2-aminocyclopentanecarboxylic acid residue in the outer positions of the model coiled-coil peptide led to its increased conformational stability, which was established consistently by the results of CD, NMR and FT-IR spectroscopy.

Helix-loop-helix peptide foldamers and their use in the construction of hydrolase mimetics.

De novo designed helix-loop-helix peptide foldamers containing cis-2-aminocyclopentanecarboxylic acid residues were evaluated for their conformational stability and possible use in enzyme mimetic development. The correlation between hydrogen bond network size and conformational stability was demonstrated through CD and NMR spectroscopies. Molecules incorporating a Cys/His/Glu triad exhibited enzyme-like hydrolytic activity.

Sequence Engineering to Control the Helix Handedness of Peptide Foldamers.

Peptide foldamers have been studied for over two decades and numerous sequence patterns have been shown to form well-defined three-dimensional arrangements in solution. In particular, helices of various geometries have been described. In this article, different concepts concerning the construction of helical foldameric peptides, for which the possibility of governing the sense of the formed helix was evidenced, are presented and discussed.

Controlling the Helix Handedness of ααβ-Peptide Foldamers through Sequence Shifting.

Peptide foldamers containing both cis-β-aminocyclopentanecarboxylic acid and α-amino acid residues combined in various sequence patterns (ααβ, αααβ, αβααβ, and ααβαααβ) were screened using CD and NMR spectroscopy for the tendency to form helices. ααβ-Peptides were found to fold into an unprecedented and well-defined 16/17/15/18/14/17-helix. By extending the length of the sequence or shifting a fragment of the sequence from one terminus to another in ααβ-peptides, the balance between left-handed and right-handed helix populations present in the solution can be controlled.

1,2-Benzisoselenazol-3(2H)-one Derivatives As a New Class of Bacterial Urease Inhibitors.

Urease inhibitors are considered promising compounds for the treatment of ureolytic bacterial infections, particularly infections resulting from Helicobacter pylori in the gastric tract. Herein, we present the synthesis and the inhibitory activity of novel and highly effective organoselenium compounds as inhibitors of Sporosarcina pasteurii and Helicobacter pylori ureases. These studied compounds represent a class of competitive reversible urease inhibitors.

Zwitterionic phosphorylated quinines as chiral solvating agents for NMR spectroscopy.

Because of their unique 3D arrangement, naturally occurring Cinchona alkaloids and their synthetic derivatives have found wide-ranging applications in chiral recognition. Recently, we determined the enantioselective properties of C-9-phosphate mixed triesters of quinine as versatile chiral solvating agents in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. In the current study, we introduce new zwitterionic members of this class of molecules containing a negatively charged phosphate moiety (i.

Phosphorylation as a method of tuning the enantiodiscrimination potency of quinine--an NMR study.

Quinines phosphorylated at the C-9 hydroxyl group (diphenyl and diethyl phosphates) were synthesized and validated as novel effective chiral solvating agents in two alternative methods based on (1)H and (31)P NMR spectroscopy. Tested with a representative set of racemic analytes, the title compounds induced shift nonequivalence effects in (1)H NMR signals with values up to 0.1-0.