1,5-Disubstituted 1,2,3-Triazoles as Amide Bond Isosteres Yield Novel Tumor-Targeting Minigastrin Analogs.

[Image: see text] 1,5-Disubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles (1,5-Tz) are considered bioisosteres of cis-amide bonds. However, their use for enhancing the pharmacological properties of peptides or proteins is not yet well established. Aiming to illustrate their utility, we chose the peptide conjugate [Nle(15)]MG11 (DOTA-dGlu-Ala-Tyr-Gly-Trp-Nle-Asp-Phe-NH(2)) as a model compound since it is known that the cholecystokinin-2 receptor (CCK2R) is able to accommodate turn conformations. Analogs of [Nle(15)]MG11 incorporating 1,5-Tz in the backbone were synthesized and radiolabeled with lutetium-177, and their pharmacological properties (cell internalization, receptor binding affinity and specificity, pla…

Development and in vitro evaluation of new bifunctional 89Zr-chelators based on the 6-amino-1,4-diazepane scaffold for immuno-PET applications

Abstract Introduction Combination of hydroxamate bearing side chains with the 6-amino-1,4-diazepane scaffold provides a promising strategy for fast and stable 89Zr-labeling of antibodies. Following this approach, we hereby present the development, labeling kinetics and in vitro complex stability of three resulting bifunctional chelator derivatives both stand-alone and coupled to a model protein in comparison to different linear deferoxamine (DFO) derivatives. Methods The novel 89Zr-chelator Hy3ADA5 was prepared via amide-coupling of separately synthesized 6-amino-1,4-diazepane-6-pentanoic acid and hydroxamate-containing side chains. Two further bifunctional derivatives were synthesized by e…

Cover Feature: Single Peptide Backbone Surrogate Mutations to Regulate Angiotensin GPCR Subtype Selectivity (Chem. Eur. J. 47/2020)

Amide-to-triazole switch vs. in vivo NEP-inhibition approaches to promote radiopeptide targeting of GRPR-positive tumors

Abstract Introduction Radiolabeled bombesin (BBN)-analogs have been proposed for diagnosis and therapy of gastrin-releasing peptide receptor (GRPR)-expressing tumors, such as prostate, breast and lung cancer. Metabolic stability represents a crucial factor for the success of this approach by ensuring sufficient delivery of circulating radioligand to tumor sites. The amide-to-triazole switch on the backbone of DOTA-PEG 4 -[Nle 14 ]BBN(7–14) ( 1 ) was reported to improve the in vitro stability of resulting 177 Lu-radioligands. On the other hand, in-situ inhibition of neutral endopeptidase (NEP) by coinjection of phosphoramidon (PA) was shown to significantly improve the in vivo stability and …

Single Peptide Backbone Surrogate Mutations to Regulate Angiotensin GPCR Subtype Selectivity

Mutating the side-chains of amino acids in a peptide ligand, with unnatural amino acids, aiming to mitigate its short half-life is an established approach. However, it is hypothesized that mutating specific backbone peptide bonds with bioisosters can be exploited not only to enhance the proteolytic stability of parent peptides, but also to tune its receptor subtype selectivity. Towards this end, four [Y]6-Angiotensin II analogues are synthesized where amide bonds have been replaced by 1,4-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazole isosteres in four different backbone locations. All the analogues possessed enhanced stability in human plasma in comparison with the parent peptide, whereas only two of them a…