HELM-GPT:macrocyclic peptide design using generative pre-trained transformer

Xiaopeng Xu, Chencheng Xu, Wenjia He, Lesong Wei, Haoyang Li, Juexiao Zhou, Ruochi Zhang, Yu Wang, Yuanpeng Xiong, Xin Gao

Abstract: Macrocyclic peptides hold great promise as therapeutics targeting intracellular proteins. This stems from their remarkable ability to bind flat protein surfaces with high affinity and specificity while potentially traversing the cell membrane. Research has already explored their use in developing inhibitors for intracellular proteins, such as KRAS, a well-known driver in various cancers. However, computational approaches for de novo macrocyclic peptide design remain largely unexplored.