A structure-activity relationship study of a K-Ras(G12D) selective inhibitory cyclic peptide, KRpep-2d was performed. Alanine scanning of KRpep-2d focusing on the cyclic moiety showed that Leu7, Ile9, and Asp12 are the key elements for K-Ras(G12D) selective inhibition of KRpep-2d. The cysteine bridging was also examined to identify the stable analog of KRpep-2d under reductive conditions. As a result, the KRpep-2d analog (12) including mono-methylene bridging showed potent K-Ras(G12D) selective inhibition in both the presence and the absence of dithiothreitol. This means that mono-methylene bridging is an effective strategy to obtain a reduction-resistance analog of parent disulfide cyclic peptides. Peptide 12 inhibited proliferation of K-Ras(G12D)-driven cancer cells significantly. These results gave valuable information for further optimization of KRpep-2d to provide novel anti-cancer drug candidates targeting the K-Ras(G12D) mutant.
Keywords: Cyclic peptide; Cysteine bridging; K-Ras(G12D); Mono-methylene; Mutant selective.
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