Interaction of papain-like cysteine proteases with dipeptide-derived nitriles

A series of 44 dipeptide nitriles with various amino acids at the P2 position and glycine nitrile at position P1 were prepared and evaluated as inhibitors of cysteine proteinases. With respect to the important contribution of the P2-S2 interaction to the formation of enzyme-inhibitor complexes, it was focused to introduce structural diversity into the P2 side chain. Nonproteinogenic amino acids were introduced, and systematic fluorine, bromine, and phenyl scans for phenylalanine in the P2 position were performed. Moreover, the N-terminal protection was varied. Kinetic investigations were carried out with cathepsin L, S, and K as well as papain. Changes in the backbone structure of the parent N-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-phenylalanyl-glycine-nitrile (16), such as the introduction of an R-configured amino acid or an azaamino acid into P2 as well as methylation of the P1 nitrogen, resulted in a drastic loss of affinity. Exemplarily, the cyano group of 16 was replaced by an aldehyde or methyl ketone function. Structure-activity relationships were discussed with respect to the substrate specificity of the target enzymes.