Highly Active Analogs of α-Factor and Their Activities Against Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Thirteen analogs of tridecapeptide ${\alpha}$-factor (WHWLQLKPGQPMY) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with C- or N-terminal Trp extension and isosteric replacement by Aib at position 8 and 11, Trp at position 13, D-Ala at position 9, and Orn and Glu at position 6 were synthesized and assayed for their biological activity. Receptor binding assay was carried out using our newly developed spectrophotometric method with detector peptide 14. C- or N-terminal extended analogs, ${\alpha}$-factor-$[Trp]_n$ (n =1-5) 1-5 and $[N-Trp]_1$-${\alpha}$-factor 6, were all less active than native ${\alpha}$-factor and gradual decreases in both activity and receptor affinity were observed with greater Trp extension. Trp-substituted analog at position 13, $[Trp^{13}]{\alpha}$-factor 7, exhibited about 2-fold reductions in both activity and receptor affinity. Aib-substituted analogs, $[Aib^8]{\alpha}$-factor 8 and $[Aib^{11}]{\alpha}$-factor 9, showed 5- to 10-fold reduction in activity as well as 3-fold reduction in receptor affinity compared to native ${\alpha}$-factor. $[Orn^6]{\alpha}$-factor 10 demonstrated strong potency with a 7.0-fold increase in halo activity as well as 1.8-fold increase in receptor affinity compared to native ${\alpha}$-factor. For two double substituted analogs, [$Glu^6,{\small{D}}-Ala^9$]${\alpha}$-factor 12 showed the slightly decreased potency in halo activity compared to analog 10, whereas [$Orn^6,{\small{D}}-Ala^9$]${\alpha}$-factor 11 exhibited 15-fold higher halo activity as well as nearly 3-fold higher receptor affinity compared to native ${\alpha}$-factor.