Pharmacophoric modifications lead to superpotent avß3 integrin ligands with suppressed a5ß1 activity

Abstract

The selective targeting of the avß3 integrin subtype without affecting the structurally closely related receptor a5ß1 is crucial for understanding the details of their biological and pathological functions and thus of great relevance for diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in cancer treatment. Here, we present the synthesis of highly active RGD peptidomimetics for the avß3 integrin with remarkable selectivity against a5ß1. Incorporation of a methoxypyridine building block into a ligand scaffold and variation of different functional moieties led to avß3-antagonistic activities in the low nanomolar or even subnanomolar range. Furthermore, docking studies were performed to give insights into the binding modes of the novel compounds. The presented library comprises powerful ligands for specific addressing and blocking of the avß3 integrin subtype, thereby representing privileged tools for integrin-based personalized medicine