New potent cathepsin G phosphonate inhibitors

Cathepsin G is an enzyme with dual chymotrypsin and trypsin-like specificity. As a leukocyte proteinase it is involved in the early stages of the immune response. In this work the synthesis and inhibitory activity of diaryl phosphonic-type irreversible cathepsin G inhibitors are described. Modification of the lead structure Z-Phg(P)(OPh)2 (k(obs)/I=91 M(-1)s(-1)) in phenyl ester moieties followed by incorporation of the basic functional group into the aromatic side chain yielded highly potent cathepsin G inhibitor Z-(4-guanidine)Phg(P)(OC6H4-4-S-Me)2 with the apparent second-order inhibition value at 15,600 M(-1)s(-1). Further elongation of the obtained compound by tripeptide resulted in the inhibitor Ac-Phe-Val-Thr-(4-guanidine)Phg(P)(OC6H4-4-S-Me)2 with the highest k(obs)/I value ever reported in literature (256,000 M(-1)s(-1)).