Abstract
The melanocortin-3 and -4 receptors are expressed in the brain and play key roles in regulating feeding behavior, metabolism, and energy homeostasis. In the present study, incorporation of β3-amino acids into a melanocortin tetrapeptide template was investigated. Four linear α/β3-hybrid tetrapeptides were designed with the modifications at the Phe, Arg, and Trp residues in the agonist sequence Ac-His-dPhe-Arg-Trp-NH2. The most potent mouse melanocortin-4 receptor (mMC4R) agonist, Ac-His-dPhe-Arg-β3hTrp-NH2 (8) showed 35-fold selectivity versus the mMC3R. The study presented here has identified a new template with heterogeneous backbone for designing potent and selective melanocortin receptor ligands.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 568-572 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 14 2015 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2015 American Chemical Society.
Keywords
- peptidomimetics
- α/β-peptides
- β-amino acids