A method for the preparation of N-maleoylamino acids and esters is reported. These compounds were shown to inhibit both the oxytocin-induced smooth muscle contraction in the isolated rat uterus and the vasopressin-induced water loss from the isolated toad bladder. The inhibitory ability of the maleimides in the toad bladder assay was found to be related to their corresponding partition coefficients by the equation: log 1/C = -0.055 (log P) 2 + 0.227 log P + 3.96. N-Maleoylamino acids can be coupled to peptides to form alkylating reagents which react rapidly with sulfhydryl groups. The synthesis of [1-(N-maleoylglycyl)cysteinyl]oxytocin (3) and [1=(N-maleoyl-11-aminoundecanoyl)cysteinyl]oxytocin (4) as potential affinity labeling reagents is described. These oxytocin analogs were shown to readily react with sulfhydryl-containing compounds; however, neither 3 nor 4 was seen to inhibit in the rat uterus assay at concentrations up to 3 times 10(-5)M. When tested on the mucosal and serosal surfaces of the toad bladder, assay inhibition was seen only on the mucosal surface. These results are discussed with respect to the possible existence of sulfhydryl groups at neurohypophyseal receptors.
Tripeptide aldehydes such as Boc-D-Phe-Pro-Arg-H (51) exhibit potent direct inhibition of thrombin. This distinction offers important insight for the design of more potent and selective serine protease inhibitors which may be useful pharmacological tools and hold promise for development of clinically useful agents. The structure-activity relationships (SAR) on a series of anticoagulant peptides with high selectivity for the enzyme thrombin are discussed. The SAR is centered on a series of di- and tripeptide arginine aldehydes based on the structure of 51. The structural and conformational role of the amino acid residue in position 1 was investigated by substitution with conformationally restricted aromatic amino acids, aromatic acids, and a dipeptide isostere containing the psi[CH2N] amide bond replacement. Many of these peptides demonstrate potent antithrombotic activity along with selectivity toward thrombin, determined by comparison of in vitro inhibitory effects on trypsin, plasmin, factor Xa, and tissue plasminogen activator. Compound 5f, D-1-Tiq-Pro-Arg-H.sulfate is highly active and the most selective tripeptide aldehyde inhibitor of thrombin reported to date.
In our continuing effort to design novel thrombin inhibitors, a series of conformationally constrained amino acids (e.g. alpha-alkyl, N-alkyl cyclic, etc.) were utilized in a systematic structure-activity study of the P3, P2, and P1 positions of tripeptide arginal thrombin inhibitors. Early examples of this effort include: D-MePhe-Pro-Arg-H (15), Boc-D-Phg-Pro-Arg-H (18), D-1-Tiq-Pro-Arg-H (23, D-1-Tiq = D-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolin-1-ylcarbonyl), and Boc-D-Phe-Pro-Arg-H (25).10a,20 The current work clarifies the contribution of each residue of the tripeptide arginals toward the potent and selective inhibition of thrombin relative to that of t-PA and plasmin. The alpha-methylarginal modification in the P1 residue resulted in analogs 30 (D-MePhe at P3) and 32 (D-1-Tiq at P3) which had lower potency toward thrombin while exhibiting improved selectivity. Analogs modified at the P2 site were found to be very sensitive to the conformational changes induced by variations in side chain ring size with the flexible pipecolinic acid 31 being 2 orders of magnitude less potent at thrombin inhibition than the conformationally constrained azetidine analog 20. Examination of the P3 binding region indicated that alpha-alkylphenylglycine residues resulted in a tendency to exhibit substantial improvements in selectivity over the nonalkylated residues. Combinations of optimal P3 and P2 changes led to compounds TFA-D-Phg(alpha Et)-Azt-Arg-H (16), TFA-D-Phg(alpha Me)-Azt-Arg-H (17), Ac-D-Phg(alpha Me)-Azt-Arg-H (21), TFA-D-Phg(alpha Me)-Pro-Arg-H (27), 30, and 32, which are clearly more selective for thrombin versus plasmin than the nonconformationally constrained compounds.
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