Jarais Fontaine, Jianfeng Cai
Over the last 15 years, our laboratory has explored peptidomimetics in diverse research areas, including AApeptide folding, structure-based design, combinatorial screening, and supramolecular chemistry. Through these efforts, we successfully introduced a new subclass of AApeptides known as sulfonyl-γ-AApeptides. In recent years, we took advantage of the synthetic scaffold and rationally designed and developed helices targeting a series of protein-protein interactions. This Perspective summarizes our recent advances in developing right-handed helical D-sulfonyl-γ-AApeptides, which closely resemble the secondary structure of canonical α-helices and represent a promising platform for α-helical mimicry.