We designed a minilibrary of 55 small molecule peptidomimetics based on beta-turns of the neurotrophin growth factor polypeptides neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) and nerve growth factor (NGF). Direct binding, binding competition, and biological screens identified agonistic ligands of the ectodomain of the neurotrophin receptors TrkC and TrkA. Agonism is intrinsic to the peptidomimetic ligand (in the absence of neurotrophins), and/or can also be detected as potentiation of neurotrophin action. Remarkably, some peptidomimetics afford both neurotrophic activities of cell survival and neuronal differentiation, while others afford discrete signals leading to either survival or differentiation. The high rate of hits identified suggests that focused minilibraries may be desirable for developing bioactive ligands of cell surface receptors. Small, selective, proteolytically stable ligands with defined biological activity may have therapeutic potential.

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Scheme 1 Proposed mechanism for amidation mediated by TCT-PPh 3 system. This journal is

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A library of guanidine-based compounds was produced to mimic the lead compound 1, which is a substance known to have intensely sweet-taste characteristics. Libraries of guanidinocarboxylic acids were therefore prepared via two synthetic methods. The solid-phase method involving trapping of solution-phase carbodiimides by supported amines was used to produce N,N'-dialkyl derivatives (Scheme 1). The second solid-phase method, featuring supported carbodiimides and solution-phase amines (Scheme 2), was devised to prepare N,N'-disubstituted and N,N',N'-trisubstituted guanidinocarboxylic acids. A small collection of guanadinoacetic acid dimers and trimers was also prepared, but this time via a solution-phase coupling of carbodiimides to a polyamine linker.