Peptides are among the most versatile bioactive molecules, yet the do not make good drugs, because they are quickly degraded or modified in the body. Thus, drug discovery has turned to the novel field of peptidomimetics, i. e. to design non-peptide compounds mimicking the pharmacophore and thus the activity of the original peptide. These novel compounds open up new perspectives in drug design by providing an entire range of highly specific pharmaceuticals that have a high bioavailability.

In particular, the following classes of pseudo-peptides are introduced and examined with regard to their chemical properties, pharmacological activity, as well as practical aspects of synthesis:

• Oligo-glycines
• Beta-peptides
• Gamma-peptides
• Pyrrole-imidazole polyamides
• DNA-like peptide nucleic acids
• Alpha-helical peptide nucleic acids
• DNA-cleaving pseudo-peptides

The first work drawing together knowledge gained on different types of pseudo-peptides with drug properties, this book is an essential resource for drug developers and bioorganic chemists working with those compounds.

Contents

1. Versatile oligo-glycines: The many roles of peptoids in drug discovery
2. Beta-peptides, gamma-peptides and isosteric backbones: New scaffolds with controlled shapes
3. Regulation of gene expression with pyrrole-imidazole polyamides
4. Peptide nucleic acid: A pseudo-peptide with DNA-like properties
5. Alpha-helical peptide nucleic acids
6. DNA-cleaving pseudo-peptides

Index

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