Author: W. Bernd Schweizer

0000000000398179

AUTHOR

W. Bernd Schweizer

Fluorine Scan of Inhibitors of the Cysteine Protease Human Cathepsin L: Dipolar and Quadrupolar Effects in the π-Stacking of Fluorinated Phenyl Rings on Peptide Amide Bonds

The π-stacking of fluorinated benzene rings on protein backbone amide groups was investigated, using a dual approach comprising enzyme-ligand binding studies complemented by high-level quantum chemical calculations. In the experimental study, the phenyl substituent of triazine nitrile inhibitors of human cathepsin L (hCatL), which stacks onto the peptide amide bond Gly67-Gly68 at the entrance of the S3 pocket, was systematically fluorinated, and differences in inhibitory potency were measured in a fluorimetric assay. Binding affinity is influenced by lipophilicity (clog P), the dipole and quadrupole moments of the fluorinated rings, but also by additional interactions of the introduced fluo…

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Systematic Investigation of Resorcin[4]arene-Based Cavitands as Affinity Materials on Quartz Crystal Microbalances.

Resorcin[4]arene cavitands are well-known supramolecular hosts, and their outstanding guest-binding abilities in solution have been studied in detail in recent decades. In a systematic approach, different resorcin[4]arene cavitands and container molecules are characterized as affinity materials for gravimetric sensing using high-fundamental-frequency quartz crystal microbalances. Analysis of their affinity toward a series of various analytes reveals a remarkable dependence of both selectivity and sensitivity on the shape, accessibility, and size of the cavity, along with their supramolecular interactions with the host molecules.

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Optimization of Triazine Nitriles as Rhodesain Inhibitors: Structure-Activity Relationships, Bioisosteric Imidazopyridine Nitriles, and X-ray Crystal Structure Analysis with Human Cathepsin L

The cysteine protease rhodesain of Trypanosoma brucei parasites causing African sleeping sickness has emerged as a target for the development of new drug candidates. Based on a triazine nitrile moiety as electrophilic headgroup, optimization studies on the substituents for the S1, S2, and S3 pockets of the enzyme were performed using structure-based design and resulted in inhibitors with inhibition constants in the single-digit nanomolar range. Comprehensive structure-activity relationships clarified the binding preferences of the individual pockets of the active site. The S1 pocket tolerates various substituents with a preference for flexible and basic side chains. Variation of the S2 subs…

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CCDC 916055: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Veronika Ehmke, Edwin Winkler, David W. Banner, Wolfgang Haap, W. Bernd Schweizer, Matthias Rottmann, Marcel Kaiser, Céline Freymond, Tanja Schirmeister, François Diederich|2013|ChemMedChem|8|967|doi:10.1002/cmdc.201300112

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CCDC 916056: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

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