Controlling Peptide Turns 

Synthesis of 5/7-, 5/8- and 5/9-bicyclic lactam templates as constraints for external -turns 

Heather M. E. Duggan, Peter B. Hitchcock and Douglas W. Young 

The reverse turn, a four-amino acid (tetrapeptide) motif that frequently occurs on the surface of large proteins, is involved in important molecular recognition processes such as the interaction between the protein and a vascular cell adhesion molecule. Synthetic analogues of the turn motif are small molecules which are increasingly being investigated as potential drugs. This paper describes the synthesis of a series of molecular templates which will constrain a tetrapeptide into specific conformations for interaction with biologically functional macromolecules, thus inhibiting biological processes in a therapeutically useful way.   

Douglas Young and colleagues at the Universityof Sussex have developed a series of therapeutically useful compounds based on the interruption of molecular recognition processes by small molecules. These compounds are easy to prepare, and are less likely than natural peptides to degrade in the body.