Backbone cyclization of the C-terminal part of substance P. Part 1: The important role of the sulphur in position 11

Novel backbone-to-side chain and backbone-to-backbone cyclic analogues of substance P (SP) were prepared by solid-phase synthesis and screened for biological activity. An analogue containing a thioetherlactam ring between positions 9 and 11 showed an EC50 value of 20 nM toward the neurokinin 1 (NK-1) and was inactive toward the NK-2 and NK-3 receptors. On the other hand, in a multiple backbone cyclic peptide library of similar analogues, in which the sulphur was excluded from the ring, very low activity was detected. The activity was re-evaluated and was found to be even lower (EC50 = 0.11 mM) than the previously published data. These results indicate that the thioether moiety has a crucial role in receptor activation. The results also show tolerance of the NK-1 receptor, but not NK-2 or NK-3, to cyclization of the C-terminal portion of the SP6-11 hexapeptide.