Discovering Peptide Inhibitors of Human Squalene Synthase Through Screening the Phage-Displayed Cyclic Peptide c7c Library

Many drugs for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia are targeting the enzymes involved in human cholesterol biosynthesis pathway. Squalene synthase, the rate-limiting enzyme located at the downstream of cholesterol synthesis pathway, has become a better candidate to develop next-generation hypocholesterolemia drugs. In the present study, we cloned and expressed the recombinant human squalene synthase (hSQS) as the lure to isolate potential peptide inhibitors from screening the conformation-constrained phage-displayed cyclic peptide c7c library. Their binding capabilities were further estimated by ELISA. Their pharmaceutical potentials were then analyzed through molecular modeling and the ADMET property evaluations. Four ennea-peptides and nine tetra-peptides were finally synthesized to evaluate their inhibitory potentials toward hSQS. The results indicate that the ennea-peptide CLSPHSMFC, tetra-peptides SMFC, CKTE, and WHQW can effectively inhibit hSQS activities (IC50 values equal to 64, 76, 87, and 90 μM, respectively). These peptides may have potentials to develop future cholesterol-lowering therapeutics. The ligand-protein interaction analysis also reveals that the inner hydrophobic pocket could be a more critical site of hSQS.