Novel C-Terminus Modifications of the Dmt-Tic Motif: A New Class of Dipeptide Analogues Showing Altered Pharmacological Profiles Toward the Opioid Receptors

Abstract

The design, synthesis and pharmacological evaluation of a novel class of Dmt-Tic dipeptide analogues are described. These resulting analogues bearing different C-terminal functionalities were found to bind to the human delta receptor with high affinity. One specific class of dipeptides bearing urea/thiourea functionalities showed partial to full activation of the delta receptor. Several dipeptides also showed good binding affinities with full activation of the human kappa receptor, a novel property for those ligands.