Design of Substrate Transmembrane Mimetics as Structural Probes for γ-Secretase

gamma-Secretase is a membrane-embedded aspartyl protease complex central in biology and medicine. How this enzyme recognizes transmembrane substrates and catalyzes hydrolysis in the lipid bilayer is unclear. Inhibitors that mimic the entire substrate transmembrane domain and engage the active site should provide important tools for structural biology, yielding insight into substrate gating and trapping the protease in the active state. Here, we report transmembrane peptidomimetic inhibitors of the gamma-secretase complex that contain an N-terminal helical peptide region that engages a substrate docking exosite and a C-terminal transition-state analog moiety targeted to the active site. Both regions are required for stoichiometric inhibition of gamma-secretase. Moreover, enzyme inhibition kinetics and photoaffinity probe displacement experiments demonstrate that both the docking exosite and the active site are engaged by the bipartite inhibitors. The solution conformations of these potent transmembrane-mimetic inhibitors are similar to those of bound natural substrates, suggesting these probes are preorganized for high-affinity binding and should allow visualization of the active gamma-secretase complex, poised for intramembrane proteolysis, by cryo-electron microscopy.