Conformationally Constrained Peptidomimetic Inhibitors of Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3: Evaluation and Molecular Modeling

摘要

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3) is involved in aberrant growth and survival signals in malignant tumor cells and is a validated target for anti-cancer drug design. We are targeting its SH2 domain to prevent docking to cytokine and growth factor receptors and subsequent signaling. The amino acids of our lead phosphopeptide, Ac-pTyr-Leu-Pro-Gln-Thr-Val-NH2, were replaced with conformationally constrained mimics. Structure-affinity studies led to the peptidomimetic, pCinn-Haic-Gln-NHBn (>21) which had an IC50 of 162 nM (fluorescence polarization), as compared to 290 nM for the lead phosphopeptide (pCinn = 4-phosphoryloxycinnamate, Haic = (2S,5S)-5-amino-1,2,4,5,6,7-hexahydro-4-oxo-azepino[3,2,1-hi]indole-2-carboxylic acid). pCinn-Haic-Gln-OH was docked to the SH2 domain (AUTODOCK) and the two highest populated clusters were subjected to molecular dynamics simulations. Both converged to a common peptide conformation. The complex exhibits unique hydrogen bonding between Haic and Gln and Stat3 as well as hydrophobic interactions between the protein and pCinn and Haic.