A potent macrocyclic inhibitor of neutral endopeptidase (NEP) 24.11 was designed using a computer model of the active site of thermolysin. This 10-membered ring lactam represents a general mimic for any hydrophobic dipeptide in which the two amino acid side chains bind to an enzyme in a contiguous orientation. The parent 10-membered ring lactam was synthesized and exhibited excellent potency as an NEP 24.11 inhibitor (IC50= 3 nM). In ...
