Novel bisubstrate uridine-peptide analogues bearing a pyrophosphate bioisostere as inhibitors of human O-GlcNAc transferase.

Protein O-linked β-D-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) modification (O-GlcNAcylation), an essential post-translational as well as cotranslational modification, is the attachment of β-D-N-acetylglucosamine to serine and threonine residues of nucleocytoplasmic proteins. An aberrant O-GlcNAc profile on certain proteins has been implicated in metabolic diseases such as diabetes and cancer. Inhibitors of O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) are valuable tools to study the cell biology of protein O-GlcNAc modification. In this study we report novel uridine-peptide conjugate molecules composed of an acceptor peptide covalently linked to a catalytically inactive donor substrate analogue that bears a pyrophosphate bioisostere and explore their inhibitory activities against OGT by a radioactive hOGT assay. Further, we investigate the structural basis of their activities via molecular modelling, explaining their lack of potency towards OGT inhibition.