Rational Design of Right-Handed Heterogeneous Peptidomimetics as Inhibitors of Protein–Protein Interactions

Peptidomimetics have gained great attention for their function as protein–protein interaction (PPI) inhibitors. Herein, we report the design and investigation of a series of right-handed helical heterogeneous 1:1 α/Sulfono-γ-AA peptides as unprecedented inhibitors for p53-MDM2 and p53-MDMX. The most potent helical heterogeneous 1:1 α/Sulfono-γ-AA peptides were shown to bind tightly to MDM2 and MDMX, with Kd of 19.3 and 66.8 nM, respectively. Circular dichroism spectra, 2D-NMR spectroscopy, and the computational simulations suggested that these helical sulfono-γ-AA peptides could mimic the critical side chains of p53 and disrupt p53/MDM2 PPI effectively. It was noted that these 1:1 α/Sulfono-γ-AA peptides were completely resistant to proteolytic degradation, boosting their potential for biomedical applications. Furthermore, effective cellular activity is achieved by the stapled 1:1 α/Sulfono-γ-AA peptides, evidenced by significantly enhanced p53 transcriptional activity and much more induced level of MDM2 and p21. The 1:1 α/Sulfono-γ-AA peptides could be an alternative strategy to antagonize a myriad of PPIs.