Structural studies of cysteine proteases and their inhibitors.

Cysteine proteases (CPs) are responsible for many biochemical processes occurring in living organisms and they have been implicated in the development and progression of several diseases that involve abnormal protein turnover. The activity of CPs is regulated among others by their specific inhibitors: cystatins. The main aim of this review is to discuss the structure-activity relationships of cysteine proteases and cystatins, as well as of some synthetic inhibitors of cysteine proteases structurally based on the binding fragments of cystatins.

The solvent-free thermal dehydration of tetritols on zeolites.

A new alditol dehydration method at high temperatures, in the presence of molecular sieves without solvent in an argon atmosphere, is described. Investigations on tetritols have been carried out. Products arising after the intramolecular and intermolecular elimination of water, with retention or inversion of the configuration of asymmetric carbon atoms, were observed. Complete analytical separation of reaction products was achieved by means of GLC. The chemical structures of the compounds obtained were assigned using co-injection with standards, GLC-CIMS and GLC-EIMS analyses. Two intermolecular dehydration products of tetritols were isolated by HPLC and identified by 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy.

A peptidyl derivative structurally based on the inhibitory center of cystatin C inhibits bone resorption in vitro.

Human cystatin C is a cysteine proteinase inhibitor belonging to the cystatin superfamily, which previously has been shown to inhibit bone resorption in bone organ culture. The aminoterminal segment, Arg(8)-Leu(9)-Val(10)-Gly(11) (RLVG), of the single polypeptide chain of cystatin C constitutes an essential part of its inhibitory center. In the present study, the effect of benzyloxycarbonyl-Arg(8)-Leu(9)-Val(10)-Gly(11)-diazomethane (Z-RLVG-CHN(2)) on bone resorption in vitro was compared with the effects of cystatin C and calcitonin. Bone resorption was assessed by the release of (45)Ca and (3)H from mouse calvarial bones prelabeled with [(45)Ca]CaCl(2) and [(3)H]-proline, respectively. Z-RLVG-CHN(2) concentration-dependently inhibited the release of (45)Ca and (3)H in bones stimulated by parathyroid hormone (PTH), with half-maximal inhibition obtained at 1 micromol/L. The inhibitory actions of Z-RLVG-CHN(2) and cystatin C were persistent, whereas action induced initially by calcitonin was lost with time. The inhibition caused by Z-RLVG-CHN(2) and cystatin C on PTH-stimulated (45)Ca release was observed after 6 h, whereas inhibition by calcitonin was seen already after 2 h. In contrast, the inhibitory effects of Z-RLVG-CHN(2) and cystatin C, as well as that of calcitonin, on (3)H release was seen already after 2 h. Z-RLVG-CHN(2), in which the reactive carboxyterminal diazomethane was substituted by nonreactive groups [-OH, -NH(2), or -N(CH(3))(2)], resulted in peptidyl derivatives, which, in contrast to Z-RLVG-CHN(2) and cystatin C, inhibited neither cysteine proteinases nor bone resorption. In contrast to wild-type cystatin C, recombinant human cystatin C with Gly substitutions for residues Arg(8), Leu(9), Val(10), and Trp(106), and with low or nonexistent affinity for cysteine proteinases, did not display any inhibitory effect on bone resorption. These data strongly indicate that Z-RLVG-CHN(2) inhibits bone resorption in vitro by a mechanism that seems primarily to be due to an inhibition of bone matrix degradation via cysteine proteinases. The data also corroborate the hypothesis that cystatin C inhibits bone resorption by virtue of its cysteine proteinase inhibitory capacity.

Synthesis and antibacterial properties of peptidyl derivatives and cyclopeptides structurally based upon the inhibitory centre of human cystatin C. Dissociation of antiproteolytic and antibacterial effects.

Cysteine protease-inhibiting proteins of the cystatin superfamily can inhibit the replication of certain viruses and bacteria. The inhibitory centre of human cystatin C, the most widely distributed human cystatin, comprises three peptide segments. The present work describes the synthesis and antibacterial activity of 27 new peptidyl derivatives or cyclopeptides based upon the aminoterminal segment Arg8-Leu9-Val10-Gly11. Fourteen of the new compounds displayed antibacterial activity against from 1 up to 9 of 17 clinically important bacterial species tested. Antiproteolytic activity of a compound was usually not required for its antibacterial capacity. Peptidyl diazomethanes generally had a very narrow antibacterial spectrum, inhibiting only Streptococcus pyogenes, whereas cyclopeptides and peptidyl derivatives of the general structure X-Arg-Leu-NH-CH(iPr)-CH2-NH-Y had a much wider spectrum. The most potent of these substances displayed approximately equal minimal inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations of about 20 microg/ml for both Staphylococcus aureus and S. pyogenes and were devoid of antiproteolytic activity. Several of the new substances could protect mice against lethal intraperitoneal challenge with S. pyogenes. Though their target remains to be disclosed, the group of substances here reported might be promising for the development of antibacterial drugs and the discovery of novel principles of action.

Cystatin C based peptidyl diazomethanes as cysteine proteinase inhibitors: influence of the peptidyl chain length.

The peptidyl diazomethanes Cbz-Gly-CHN2, Boc-Val-Gly-CHN2, H-Leu-Val-Gly-CHN2, Cbz-Leu-Val-Gly-CHN2 and Cbz-Arg-Leu-Val-Gly-CHN2, with peptidyl portions modelled after the proposed cysteine proteinase interacting N-terminal segment of human cystatin C, were synthesized. Their efficiency as cysteine proteinase inhibitors was tested against papain, human cathepsin B and bovine cathepsin B. All, except Cbz-Gly-CHN2, were found to be irreversible inhibitors of the tested enzymes. Each addition of an amino acid residue to their peptidyl portions resulted in an increased inhibition rate of all three enzymes. These data suggest that the arginyl residue of the tetrapeptidyl diazomethane, and also the corresponding arginyl residue in native cystatin C, interact with a S4 substrate pocket subsite of both papain and cathepsin B. The most efficient inhibitor, Cbz-Arg-Leu-Val-Gly-CHN2, inhibited papain and cathepsin B with rate constants of the same order of magnitude as those for L-3-carboxy-trans-2,3-epoxypropionyl-leucylamido-(4-guanidin o)butane (E-64). The high water-solubility of Cbz-Arg-Leu-Val-Gly-CHN2 allowing it to be dissolved to molar concentrations without use of non-physiological additives, makes it suitable for in vitro and in vivo cysteine proteinase inhibition studies.

Synthesis of cysteine proteinase inhibitors structurally based on the proteinase interacting N-terminal region of human cystatin C.

Peptides spanning the entire, or part of, the Gly4-Glu21 segment of the human cysteine proteinase inhibitor cystatin C have been synthesized. Peptides containing residues on the N-terminal side of Gly11 were rapidly cleaved by papain at the bond Gly11-Gly12 whereas a peptide starting at residue Gly11 was not, thus demonstrating 1. that the N-terminal segment of cystatin C has an amino acid sequence that would allow rapid interaction between this segment and the substrate pocket of papain and, if this interaction takes place, that 2. the cystatin C residue Gly11 would be in the P1 position, and 3. the major interaction would be between residues Arg8-Val10 and the papain substrate pocket subsites S4, S3 and S2, respectively. Several modified peptide derivatives containing either diazomethane groups or peptide bond isosters were synthesized based on the structure of the Leu9-Gly11 segment of cystatin C and tested for their cysteine proteinase inhibiting capacity. The peptidyl derivatives, t-butyloxycarbonyl-valyl-glycyl-diazomethane and benzyloxycarbonyl-leucyl-valyl-glycyl-diazomethane irreversible inhibited the cysteine proteinases papain, bovine cathepsin B and streptococcal proteinase, but did not influence the activity of serine, aspartic or metallo-proteinases.