Abstract
Here, with the aim of developing a novel anti-cancer treatment, seven dipeptides were designed that contained methylated tryptophan and/or methylated arginine and were produced using Fmoc solid-phase peptide synthesis. Overexpression of the Src tyrosine kinase enzyme has been implicated in the development of different cancers. Dipeptides containing unnatural amino acids such as methylated arginine (RCH3), dimethylated arginine (R(CH3)2), and/or methylated tryptophan (WCH3) residues have earlier been shown to inhibit Src kinase. In this study, three such dipeptides, W-RCH3, WCH3-RCH3, and W-R(CH3)2, were tested using acellular assays and were found to have IC50 values (the concentration at which 50% inhibition occurs) of 510 nM, 916 nM, and 1 µM, respectively. These values were comparable to those obtained for cyclic penta- to nano-W-R peptides ([W-R]5-[W-R]9) synthesized in previous studies. However, the unmethylated versions of the dipeptides did not show any inhibitory activity against Src kinase. All of these dipeptides (50 µM) did not show any cytotoxicity after incubation up to 72 h with three different cancer cell lines, including leukemia (CCRF-CEM), breast adenocarcinoma (MDA-MB-231), and ovarian adenocarcinoma (SK-OV-3) cell lines, indicating the limited permeability of the peptides through the cell membrane. Therefore, further study is needed to improve the permeability of these peptides for anticancer applications, such as by using a peptide carrier or additional peptide functionalization. In summary, this study provides a protocol to synthesize and test peptides that inhibit Src kinase activity, and thus possess promising anticancer ability, as demonstrated using acellular and cellular assays.