Selectins are a family of integral membrane glycoproteins that mediate adhesion between leukocytes and endothelial cells during the transient rolling phase of leukocyte migration.1-3) The selectin family consists of three glycoprotein members: E-, P-and L-selectins. E-and P-selectins are expressed on activated endothelium, whereas L-selectin is constitutively expressed on neutrophils, monocytes, and most lymphocytes. P-selectin mediates attachment and is translocated to the surface of the endothelium within minutes of activation. E-selectin mediates slow rolling and is expressed after several hours on the activated cell surface. 4,5) Each selectin has a calcium-dependent carbohydrate binding domain (C-type lectin domain) in its amino-terminal, followed by an epidermal growth factor-like domain, variable numbers of complement regulatory-like units, a transmembrane domain and an intracellular region. The adhesion activity of the selectins is mediated primarily by the binding of sialyl Lewis X (sLe X ) (NeuAca2→3Galb1→4(Fuca1→3)GlcNAc-R, Fig. 1) on the leukocyte to the carbohydrate-binding domain on activated endothelial cells. [6][7][8][9][10][11] In a productive immune response, this leads to isolation of infection; however, overzealous transfer of leukocytes causes widespread tissue damage, leading to several disease states, such as reperfusion injury, cardiovascular diseases, and allergic diseases.5) Inhibition of selectin-mediated rolling is a possible means of controlling inflammation-induced diseases. Therefore, the development of selectin inhibitors, which are able to control the leukocyte-endothelia cell adhesion process, is an excellent therapeutic target to treat inflammatory diseases.It is well known that all selectins recognize the carbohydrate structure of sLe X and sialyl Lewis a (sLe a ), an isomer of sLe X ; therefore, most reported selectin inhibitors are carbohydrate-based molecules mimicking sLe X or sLe a and antibodies.5,12-20) However, they have drawbacks as therapeutics, i.e., carbohydrate chains are difficult to synthesize in high yield and purity, and carbohydrate-based molecules are generally prone to rapid metabolism and elimination. On the other hand, antibodies have potential immunogenicity, high cost, and other possible side effects.The phage-displayed library is a representative method based on affinity binding between the displayed library and the target molecule or tissue. Recently, cloning of carbohydrate mimetic peptides within a short term has become available by the phage-displayed peptide library method. Several peptides mimicking carbohydrate have been found using phage-displayed libraries. [21][22][23][24][25][26] O et al. also identified the dodecapeptide (DLWDWVVGKPAG) mimicking sLe a by screening a phage-displayed library using monoclonal antibody NS19-9.
27)Generally, the synthesis of a long peptide in high yield and purity is difficult, and long or large peptides have relatively high antigenicity. Thus, short peptides are necessary to overcome the therapeutic drawbacks....