Auxiliary agents for the peroral administration of peptide and protein drugs:: Synthesis and evaluation of novel pepstatin analogues

The peroral administration of(poly)peptide drugs requires the development of delivery systems, which provide a protective effect toward a gastrointestinal enzymatic attack. A promising strategy for such systems represents polymer-enzyme inhibitor conjugates in which the embedded therapeutic agent is protected. However, the practical use of polymer-inhibitor conjugates has so far been limited by high production costs of these auxiliary agents. To solve this problem for delivery systems shielding from pepsinic degradation, structurally simplified analogues of the pepsin inhibitor pepstatin A have been synthesized. The synthesis of tripeptide analogues, described by McConnell et al., led us to pursue further modifications varying the C-terminus. Our target to attach a spacer moisty-enabling the free access of pepsin to the inhibitor-should be combined with an attractive synthetic approach providing low production costs in large-scale preparation. Structure modifications comprised either the side chain of the third amino acid which served as starting compound designing the C-terminus (L-leucine, L-isoleucine, L-norvaline) as the length of the spacer link, simulated by a linear alkyl group (n-butyl, n-hexyl, and n-octyl). The inhibitory activities which have been evaluated by an enzyme assay were significantly dependent on the nature of the side chain, whereas the length of the spacer had no influence on the inhibitory effect. Analogues bearing the isobutyl or n-propyl moiety as side chain displayed a strong inhibitory effect which was comparable to that pepstatin A. These congeners represent promising auxiliary agents for the peroral administration of(poly)peptide drugs.