Most synthetic inhibitors of peptidases have been targeted to the active site for inhibiting catalysis through reversible competition with the substrate or by covalent modification of catalytic groups. Cathepsin B is unique among the cysteine peptidase for the presence of a flexible segment, known as the occluding loop, which can block the primed subsites of the substrate binding cleft. With the occluding loop in the open conformation cathepsin B acts as an endopeptidase, and it acts as an exopeptidase when the loop is closed. We have targeted the occluding loop of human cathepsin B at its surface, outside the catalytic center, using a high-throughput docking procedure. The aim was to identify inhibitors that would interact with the occluding loop thereby modulating enzyme activity without the help of chemical warheads against catalytic residues. From a large library of compounds, the in silico approach identified [2-[2-(2,4-dioxo-1,3-thiazolidin-3-yl)ethylamino]-2-oxoethyl] 2-(furan-2-carbonylamino) acetate, which fulfills the working hypothesis. This molecule possesses two distinct binding moieties and behaves as a reversible, double-headed competitive inhibitor of cathepsin B by excluding synthetic and protein substrates from the active center. The kinetic mechanism of inhibition suggests that the occluding loop is stabilized in its closed conformation, mainly by hydrogen bonds with the inhibitor, thus decreasing endoproteolytic activity of the enzyme. Furthermore, the dioxothiazolidine head of the compound sterically hinders binding of the C-terminal residue of substrates resulting in inhibition of the exopeptidase activity of cathepsin B in a physiopathologically relevant pH range.

A systematic survey of the acetylcholine-mimetic 2,4-dioxa-3-phosphadecalins as irreversible inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase revealed hitherto overlooked properties as far as the kinetic mechanisms of interaction are concerned. As a support to past and future work in this field, we describe the kinetics of eight reaction schemes that may be found in irreversible enzyme modification and compare them with two mechanism of reversible, slow-binding inhibition. The relevant kinetic equations and their associated graphical representations are given for all mechanisms, and concrete examples illustrate their practical use. Since irreversible inhibition is a time-dependent phenomenon, kinetic analysis is greatly facilitated by fitting the appropriate integrated rate equations to reaction-progress curves by nonlinear regression. This primary scrutiny provides kinetic parameters that are indispensable tools for diagnosing the kinetic mechanism and for calculating inhibition constants. Numerical integration of sets of differential equations is an additional useful investigation tool in critical situations, e.g., when inhibitors are unstable and/or act as irreversible modifiers only temporarily.

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The serine endopeptidase elastase‐2 from human polymorphonuclear leukocytes is associated with physiological remodeling and pathological degradation of the extracellular matrix. Glycosaminoglycans bound to the matrix or released after proteolytic processing of the core proteins of proteoglycans are potential ligands of elastase‐2. In vitro, this interaction results in enzyme inhibition at low concentrations of glycosaminoglycans. However, inhibition is reversed and even abolished at high concentrations of the ligands. This behavior, which can be interpreted by a mechanism involving at least two molecules of glycosaminoglycan binding the enzyme at different sites, may cause interference with the natural protein inhibitors of elastase‐2, particularly the α‐1 peptidase inhibitor. Depending on their concentration, glycosaminoglycans can either stimulate or antagonize the formation of the enzyme‐inhibitor complex and thus affect proteolytic activity. This interference with elastase‐2 inhibition in the extracellular space may be part of a finely‐tuned control mechanism in the microenvironment of the enzyme during remodeling and degradation of the extracellular matrix.