A Novel Methodology for the Incorporation of Chiral Linkers in Stapled Peptides

Abstract

Stapled peptides have arisen as a new class of chemical probe and potential therapeutic agents to modulate protein-protein interactions. Here, we report the first two-component i,i+7 stapling methodology using two orthogonal, on-resin stapling reactions to incorporate linkers bearing a chiral center on a p53-derived stapled peptide. Post-stapling modifications to the staple chain were performed on-resin, enabling rapid access to various peptide derivatives from a single staple. The stapled peptides have increased helicity, protease stability and in vitro binding affinities to MDM2 compared to the unstapled peptide. This approach can be used to generate a diverse library of stapled peptides with differing properties starting from a single stapled peptide, with scope for much greater functional diversity than that provided by existing stapling methodologies.