New peptidic cysteine protease inhibitors derived from the electrophilic alpha-amino acid aziridine-2,3-dicarboxylic acid.

Three different types of peptides containing aziridine-2, 3-dicarboxylic acid (Azi) as an electrophilic alpha-amino acid at different positions within the peptide chain (type I, N-acylated aziridines with Azi as C-terminal amino acid; type II, N-unsubstituted aziridines with Azi as N-terminal amino acid; type III, N-acylated bispeptidyl derivatives of Azi) have been synthesized and tested as inhibitors of the cysteine proteases papain, cathepsins B, L, and H, and calpains I and II, as well as against several serine proteases, one aspartate, and one metalloprotease. All aziridinyl peptides are specific cysteine protease inhibitors. Papain and cathepsins B and L are inhibited irreversibly, whereas cathepsin H and calpains are inhibited in a non-time-dependent manner. Some compounds turned out to be substrates for serine proteases and for the metalloprotease thermolysin. Remarkable differences can be observed between the three different types of inhibitors concerning stereospecificity, pH dependency of inhibition, selectivity between different cysteine proteases, and the importance of a free carboxylic acid function at the aziridine ring for inhibition. Above all type II inhibitors, aza analogues of the well-known epoxysuccinyl peptides, are potent cysteine protease inhibitors. With the exception of BOC-Leu-Gly-(S, S+R,R)-Azi-(OEt)2 (28a+b), a highly selective and potent cathepsin L inhibitor, N-acylated aziridines of type I are weaker inhibitors than type II or type III compounds. The observed results can be explained by different binding modes of the three types of inhibitors with respect to their orientation in the S- and S'-binding sites of the enzymes. Furthermore, the presence of a protonated aziridine N modifies the binding mode of type II inhibitors.