Journal of medicinal chemistry
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The final step in the generation of the amyloid-beta protein (Abeta), implicated in the etiology of Alzheimer's disease, is proteolysis within the transmembrane region of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) by gamma-secretase. Although considered an important target for therapeutic design, gamma-secretase has been neither well-characterized nor definitively identified. Previous studies in our laboratory using substrate-based difluoro ketone and difluoro alcohol transition-state analogue inhibitors suggest that gamma-secretase is an aspartyl protease with loose sequence specificity. ⋯ This finding suggests that optimal S1 binding may allow the development of potent inhibitors with ideal pharmaceutical properties. Moreover, a difluoro alcohol analogue with a cyclohexylmethyl P1 substituent was equipotent with its difluoro ketone counterpart, providing strong evidence that gamma-secretase is an aspartyl protease. All new analogues inhibited total Abeta and Abeta(42) production with the same rank order of potency and increased Abeta(42) production at low concentrations, providing further evidence for distinct gamma-secretases that are nevertheless closely similar with respect to active site topology and mechanism.