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inhibitors exhibit low micromolar affinity and a high degree of
selectivity between the three enzymes (Table 1). In particular, 16
proved to be the most potent ERAP1 inhibitor with >10-fold selec-
tivity with respect to ERAP2 (Fig. 2A), whereas 20 is the most po-
tent and selective inhibitor for IRAP. On the other hand,
compounds with a short P10 side-chain (12–15) proved to be inac-
tive for all three aminopeptidases, with the exception of 13 that
carries a C-terminus benzylic group and exhibits comparable affin-
ity for ERAP2 and IRAP. Finally, the non-substituted derivatives 21
and 22 were not able to inhibit ERAP1 or ERAP2 at easily achiev-
able concentrations, albeit 21 is a modest inhibitor of IRAP. These
results verify the value of the L-amino acid incorporation for both
potency and selectivity, although they indicate that some selectiv-
ity for IRAP can be achieved even in the absence of the additional
amino acid.
To investigate the mechanism of inhibition of ERAP1 by the
most potent compound we performed a standard Michaelis–Men-
ten (MM) analysis. Since the KM value for
methyl coumarin (L-AMC) is very high to allow reliable calculation
of MM kinetics, we instead used the chromogenic substrate -Leu-
L-Leucine-7-amido-4-
L
cine-4-nitroanilide (L-pNA) as described before.14 Analysis indi-
cated that compound 16, only affected the KM parameter of the
enzymatic reaction and not the Vmax or kcat parameters (Fig. 2B),
consistent with a competitive inhibition mechanism. A major con-
cern for this type of inhibitors was whether they can be hydrolyt-
ically cleaved by the enzymes. In order to investigate their stability
we incubated the most potent ERAP1-inhibitor 16 with active en-
zyme and analyzed the reaction products on reversed-phase HPLC.
This analysis suggested that 16 was resistant towards hydrolysis
by ERAP1 (see Supplementary data, Fig. S2).
In an effort to gain further insight into the structure–activity
relationships of the designed inhibitors, we performed molecular
modeling calculations using the crystallographic structures of
ERAP1, ERAP2 and a homology model of IRAP (Supplementary
data). The large conformational space of such flexible molecules
(16 active torsions for compound 16) represents a challenging task
for most of the widely used molecular docking methods. However,
we were able to predict meaningful structures within the highest
ranked docked poses, in terms of their zinc-binding geometry
within the active site and their interactions with key-catalytic res-
idues. More specifically, the complex between 16 and ERAP1
Scheme 1. Reagents and conditions used: (a) 1 (1.0 equiv), 2 (1.1 equiv), HBTU
(2.0 equiv), DIEA (3.0 equiv), DMF, 4 h, 25 °C, 82%; (b) LiOH 1 M (20 equiv), dioxane/
H2O (1:1), 4 h, 25 °C, 95%; (c) protected amino acid (1.5 equiv), HBTU (2.5 equiv),
DIEA (4.0 equiv), DMF, 12 h, 25 °C, 72–92%; (d) for Lys-OMe: LiOH 1 M (20 equiv),
dioxane/H2O (1:1), 4 h, 25 °C, 95%; for Val-OBn and Arg(Z)2: cat. Pd/C (10% wt), H2
MeOH, 1 h, 25 °C, 90%; (e) TFA/CH2Cl2 (1:2), 30 min, 25 °C, 97%. Protected amino
acids used:
L-Ala-OMe,
L-Val-OBn, L-Thr-OMe, L-Lys(Boc)-OMe, L-Arg(Z)2-OMe, L-
Tyr(O-tBu)-OMe,
L-Trp-OBn.
Table 1
Results of the in vitro evaluation for 12–22
attributed to the increased nucleophilic nature of the meta-NH2
compared to the para-one, resulting in the exclusive formation of
3. Saponification of the methyl ester was followed by a second
IC50 (lM)
amide formation with a series of protected L-amino acids produc-
ID
ing intermediates 5–11 (Scheme 1). In particular for the lysine-
and valine-containing intermediates, their methyl and benzyl es-
ters were cleaved in order to evaluate the potential effect of the
carboxylic acid versus the ester in the binding potential of the de-
R
ERAP1
ERAP2
NI
IRAP
38
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
NI
3
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
-Ala-OMe
signed inhibitors. Finally, acidic cleavage of the P1
a-amino pro-
95.5 3.3
NI
11.5 0.6
NI
3.9 0.1
>100a
-Val-OBn
-Val-OH
tecting groups furnished compounds12–20 (Scheme 1) that were
further evaluated for their ability to inhibit the enzymes. In addi-
tion, acidic cleavage of the a-amino Boc-group of intermediates 3
and 4 yielded the non-subsituted derivatives 21 and 22, respec-
NI
NI
46
2
-Thr-OMe
-Lys-OMe
-Lys-OH
2.0 0.6
2.6 0.2
NI
24.9 1.2
8.9 0.5
NI
10.3 0.6
6.0 0.2
9.6 0.5
2.8 0.2
1.3 0.1
tively, which were also evaluated as reference compounds.
-Arg-OMe
-Tyr-OMe
-Trp-OBn
7.7 0.4
NI
>100a
ERAP1, ERAP2 and IRAP were expressed in insect cells (Hi5
cells) as recombinant proteins after infection with recombinant
baculoviruses carrying the desired gene and then purified to homo-
geneity by affinity chromatography (see Supplementary data for
details). The inhibitor potency of all compounds towards the three
enzymes was determined using an established fluorogenic assay
(Supplementary data, Fig. S1). Our initial screen showed that these
23.9 0.8
>100a
>100a
21
22
OMe
OH
NI
NI
16.3 0.8
>100a
NI = No inhibition observed at 50
l
M.
Limited inhibition (up to 20%) was evident in the 50–100
an IC50 value >100 M.
a
l
M range indicating
l