Bicyclic thiazolidine lactam peptidomimetics 3-5 have been synthesized as potential analogues of the dopamine receptor modulating peptide Pro-Leu-Gly-NH2 (PLG). Peptidomimetics 3 and 4 were designed to constrain two, psi 2 and phi 3, of the four torsion angles that define a beta-turn to values approximating those found for a type-II beta-turn, while 5 was designed as a compound that could not achieve a beta-turn conformation. Peptidomimetics 3 and 4 were found to enhance the binding of the dopamine receptor agonist ADTN to the dopamine receptor, while 5 was found to be inactive. Like PLG the dose-response curves for 3 and 4 were bell-shaped in nature with the maximum effect occurring at a concentration of 1 microM. Both 3 and 4 were more effective than PLG in enhancing the binding of ADTN to dopamine receptors. The 5,5-bicyclic thiazolidine lactam peptidomimetic 3 enhanced the binding of ADTN by almost 200%, while the 6,5-bicyclic thiazolidine lactam peptidomimetic 4 enhanced the binding of ADTN by about 75%. These results provide further evidence in support of the hypothesis that the bioactive conformation of PLG is a type-II beta-turn.

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The following structural and conformationally constrained analogues of Ac-Asp-Glu-OH (1) were synthesized: Ac-Glu-Glu-OH (2), Ac-D-Asp-Glu-OH (3), Ac-Glu-Asp-OH (4), Ac-Asp-Asp-OH (5), Ac-Asp-3-aminohexanedioic acid (6), Ac-3-amino-3-(carboxymethyl)propanoyl-Glu-OH (7), N-succinyl-Glu-OH (8), N-maleyl-Glu-OH (9), N-fumaryl-Glu-OH (10), and Ac-delta ZAsp-Glu-OH (11). These analogues were evaluated for their ability to inhibit the hydrolysis of Ac-Asp-[3,4-3H]-Glu-OH by N-acetylated alpha-linked acidic dipeptidase (NAALA dipeptidase) in order to gain some insight into the structural requirements for the inhibition of this enzyme. Analogues 4-6 and 9 were very weak inhibitors of NAALA dipeptidase (Ki greater than 40 microM), while 2, 3, and 7 with Ki values ranging from 3.2-8.5 microM showed intermediate inhibitory activity. The most active inhibitors of NAALA dipeptidase were compounds 8, 10, and 11 with Ki values of 0.9, 0.4, and 1.4 microM, respectively. These results suggest that the relative spacing between the side chain carboxyl and the alpha-carboxyl group of the C-terminal residue may be important for binding to the active site of the enzyme. They also indicate that the chi 1 torsional angle for the aspartyl residue is in the vicinity of 0 degrees.

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