Cathepsin B: Active site mapping with peptidic substrates and inhibitors

Bioorg Med Chem. 2019 Jan 1;27(1):1-15. doi: 10.1016/j.bmc.2018.10.017. Epub 2018 Oct 19.

Abstract

The potential of papain-like cysteine proteases, such as cathepsin B, as drug discovery targets for systemic human diseases has prevailed over the past years. The development of potent and selective low-molecular cathepsin B inhibitors relies on the detailed expertise on preferred amino acid and inhibitor residues interacting with the corresponding specificity pockets of cathepsin B. Such knowledge might be obtained by mapping the active site of the protease with combinatorial libraries of peptidic substrates and peptidomimetic inhibitors. This review, for the first time, summarizes a wide spectrum of active site mapping approaches. It considers relevant X-ray crystallographic data and discloses propensities towards favorable protein-ligand interactions in case of the therapeutically relevant protease cathepsin B.

Keywords: Active site mapping; Cathepsin B; Fluorescence-quenched substrates; Peptidomimetic inhibitors; Substrate specificity.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Catalytic Domain
  • Cathepsin B / chemistry*
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors / chemistry*
  • Humans
  • Kinetics
  • Ligands
  • Peptides / chemistry*
  • Substrate Specificity

Substances

  • Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors
  • Ligands
  • Peptides
  • Cathepsin B