Design and Synthesis of a Novel Peptidomimetic Inhibitor of Caspase-31

Caspases, a family of cysteine proteases, comprise of highly homologous enzymes that play an important role in apoptotic cell death. Caspase-3 shows key functions in apoptosis, mediating apoptotic cascade from the intrinsic and extrinsic activation pathways. Therefore, caspase-3 is an attractive target for therapeutic intervention. For instance, inhibitors of caspase-3 have been described as promising cardioprotectants, neuroprotectants and antiarthritic agents. A novel peptidomimetic inhibitor of caspase-3, has been designed, which still has the properties of a reversible inhibitor, while the PI site at the C-terminal remains, and only L-amino acid has been replaced by D-amino acid. Also presented here is the synthesis of the inhibitor and its inhibitory activity against caspase-3, which was tested by the fluorescent activity assay.