Discovery and synthesis of namalide reveals a new anabaenopeptin scaffold and peptidase inhibitor

J Med Chem. 2012 Jan 26;55(2):735-42. doi: 10.1021/jm201238p. Epub 2012 Jan 5.

Abstract

The discovery, structure elucidation, and solid-phase synthesis of namalide, a marine natural product, are described. Namalide is a cyclic tetrapeptide; its macrocycle is formed by only three amino acids, with an exocyclic ureido phenylalanine moiety at its C-terminus. The absolute configuration of namalide was established, and analogs were generated through Fmoc-based solid phase peptide synthesis. We found that only natural namalide and not its analogs containing l-Lys or l-allo-Ile inhibited carboxypeptidase A at submicromolar concentrations. In parallel, an inverse virtual screening approach aimed at identifying protein targets of namalide selected carboxypeptidase A as the third highest scoring hit. Namalide represents a new anabaenopeptin-type scaffold, and its protease inhibitory activity demonstrates that the 13-membered macrolactam can exhibit similar activity as the more common hexapeptides.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Carboxypeptidases A / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Chymotrypsin / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Conformation
  • Oligopeptides / chemical synthesis*
  • Oligopeptides / chemistry
  • Oligopeptides / isolation & purification
  • Peptides, Cyclic / chemical synthesis*
  • Peptides, Cyclic / chemistry
  • Peptides, Cyclic / isolation & purification
  • Porifera / chemistry*
  • Protease Inhibitors / chemical synthesis*
  • Protease Inhibitors / chemistry
  • Protease Inhibitors / isolation & purification
  • Solid-Phase Synthesis Techniques
  • Stereoisomerism
  • Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

  • Oligopeptides
  • Peptides, Cyclic
  • Protease Inhibitors
  • namalide
  • Carboxypeptidases A
  • Chymotrypsin