Inspiration from the mirror: D-amino acid containing peptides in biomedical approaches

Abstract D-amino acids, the enantiomers of naturally abundant L-amino acids, bear unique stereochemistry properties that lead to the resistance towards most of the endogenous enzymes. Previous works have demonstrated applications of D-amino acids in therapeutic development with the aid of mirror-image phage display and retro-inverso peptide synthesis. In this review, we highlight the recent progress and challenges in the exploration of D-amino acids at the interface of chemistry and life science. First, we will introduce some progress made in traditional application of D-amino acids to enhance biostability of peptide therapeutics. Then, we discuss some works that explore the relatively underexplored interactions between the enzyme and D-amino acids and enzymatic reactions of D-amino acids. To highlight the enzymatic reactions of D-amino acids, we will describe several emerging works on the enzyme-instructed self-assembly (EISA) and their potential application in selective anti-inflammatory or anticancer therapies. At the end, we briefly mention the challenges and possible future directions.