Synthesis of HDAC Substrate Peptidomimetic Inhibitors Using Fmoc Amino Acids Incorporating Zinc-Binding Groups.

Syntheses of Fmoc amino acids having zinc-binding groups were prepared and incorporated into substrate inhibitor H3K27 peptides using Fmoc/tBu solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS). Peptide 11, prepared using Fmoc-Asu(NHOtBu)-OH, is a potent inhibitor (IC50 = 390 nM) of the core NuRD corepressor complex (HDAC1-MTA1-RBBP4). The Fmoc amino acids have the potential to facilitate the rapid preparation of substrate peptidomimetic inhibitor (SPI) libraries in the search for selective HDAC inhibitors.