Selective α-glucosidase substrates and inhibitors containing short aromatic peptidyl moieties.

We constructed a library of sugar-dipeptide conjugate to find out the best complementary against hydrophobic pocket of α-glucosidase. The best substrate showed 150-fold improved K(m) value relative p-acetaminophenyl-α-D-glucopyranoside for α-glucosidase from Bacillus stearothermophillus. Using information from the complementary, we synthesized sp-WY and β-Glc-sp-WY, which selectivity inhibited the cognate enzyme.