Structure-Based Design of Potent and Selective Cell-Permeable Inhibitors of Human β-Secretase (BACE-1)

We describe the development of cell-permeable β-secretase inhibitors that demonstratively inhibit the production of the secreted amino terminal fragment of an artificial amyloid precursor protein in cell culture. In addition to potent inhibition in a cell-based assay (IC<INF>50</INF> &lt; 100 nM), these inhibitors display impressive selectivity against other biologically relevant aspartyl proteases.