Prentiss Anne Marie, Baggio Carlo, Pagett James, Kulinich Anna O, Ethell Iryna M, Muzzarelli Kendall, Assar Zahra, Pellecchia Maurizio
Division of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, California 92521, United States.
Cayman Chemical Co., 1180 E. Ellsworth Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108, United States.
J Med Chem. 2024 Dec 26;67(24):22245-22253. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.4c02286. Epub 2024 Dec 10.
The activity of the receptor tyrosine kinase EphA4 has been implicated in several pathologies including oncology (gastric and pancreatic cancers) and neurodegenerative diseases (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease). However, advances in validating EphA4 as a possible drug target have been limited by the lack of suitable pharmacological inhibitors. Recently, we reported on the design of potent EphA4 agonistic agents targeting its ligand binding domain (LBD). Based on previous studies with a phage display cyclic peptide inhibitor, we designed a β-hairpin mimetic with high affinity for EphA4-LBD. These agents hold great promise for further validation and development of EphA4-based therapeutics. Moreover, our studies introduce a possible strategy for the design of constrained β-hairpin peptides.
受体酪氨酸激酶EphA4的活性与多种病理状况有关,包括肿瘤学(胃癌和胰腺癌)和神经退行性疾病(肌萎缩侧索硬化症和阿尔茨海默病)。然而,由于缺乏合适的药理学抑制剂,将EphA4验证为可能的药物靶点的进展有限。最近,我们报道了针对其配体结合域(LBD)设计强效EphA4激动剂。基于先前对噬菌体展示环肽抑制剂的研究,我们设计了一种对EphA4-LBD具有高亲和力的β-发夹模拟物。这些药物在进一步验证和开发基于EphA4的疗法方面具有很大的前景。此外,我们的研究引入了一种设计受限β-发夹肽的可能策略。