Spumigins are marine natural products derived from cyanobacteria Nodularia spumigena, which mimics the structure of the d-Phe-Pro-Arg sequence and is crucial for binding to the active site of serine proteases thrombin and factor Xa. Biological evaluation of spumigins showed that spumigins with a (2S,4S)-4-methylproline central core represent potential lead compounds for the development of a new structural type of direct thrombin inhibitors. Herein, we represent synthesis and thrombin inhibitory activity of a focused library of spumigins analogues with indoline ring or l-proline as a central core. Novel compounds show additional insight into the structure and biological effects of spumigins. The most active analogue was found to be a derivative containing l-proline central core with low micromolar thrombin inhibitory activity.
Keywords: marine products; natural peptides; peptidomimetics; thrombin inhibition.