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A series of homologous L-amino acid, D-amino acid, and both parallel and antiparallel (retro) sequence N-substituted glycine peptide and peptoid oligomers were prepared and incubated with a series of enzymes representative of the major classes of proteases. Each respective L-amino acid containing peptide sequence was readily cleaved by the appropriate enzyme, namely

Screening a diverse, combinatorial library of ca. 5000 synthetic dimer and trimer N-(substituted)glycine "peptides" yielded novel, high-affinity ligands for 7-transmembrane G-protein-coupled receptors. The peptoid library was efficiently assembled using readily available chemical building blocks. The choice of side chains was biased to resemble known ligands to 7-transmembrane G-protein-coupled receptors. All peptides were screened in solution-phase, competitive radioligand-binding assays. Peptoid trimer CHIR 2279 binds to the alpha 1-adrenergic receptor with a Ki of 5 nM, and trimer CHIR 4531 binds to the mu-opiate receptor with a Ki of 6 nM. This represents the first example of the discovery of high-affinity receptor ligands from a combinatorial library of non-natural chemical entities.

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Purpose Growth hormone (GH) pituitary tumors are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Current treatments, including surgery and medical therapy with somatostatin analogues (SSA), dopamine agonists and/or a GH receptor antagonist, result in disease remission in approximately half of patients. Predictors of GH tumor response to different therapies have been incompletely defined based on histologic subtype, particularly densely (DG) versus sparsely (SG) granulated adenomas. The aim of this study was to examine our own institutional experience with GH adenomas and correlate how subtype related to clinical parameters as well as response to surgery and medical therapies. Methods A retrospective chart review of 101 acromegalic patients operated by a single neurosurgeon was performed. Clinical data were correlated with histologic subtype and disease control, as defined by IGF-1 levels, and random growth hormone levels in response to surgery and/or medical therapies. Results SG tumors, compared to DG, occurred in younger patients (p=0.0010), were 3-fold larger (p=0.0030), but showed no differences in tumor-invasion characteristics (p=0.12). DG tumors had a higher rate of remission in response to surgery compared to SG, 65.7% vs. 14.3% (p<0.0001), as well as to medical therapy with SSAs (68.8% for DG vs. 28.6% for SG tumors; p=0.028). SG tumors not controlled with SSAs consistently responded to a switch to, or addition of, a GH receptor antagonist. Conclusions Histological GH tumor subtyping implicates a different clinical phenotype and biologic behavior, and provides prognostic significance for surgical success and response to medical therapies.