Tyramine fragment binding to BACE-1

Fragment screening revealed that tyramine binds to the active site of the Alzheimer’s disease drug target BACE-1. Hit expansion by selection of compounds from the Roche compound library identified tyramine derivatives with improved binding affinities as monitored by surface plasmon resonance. X-ray structures show that the amine of the tyramine fragment hydrogen-bonds to the catalytic water molecule. Structure-guided ligand design led to the synthesis of further low molecular weight compounds that are starting points for chemical leads.