Molecular basis of sweet taste in dipeptide taste ligands

A review. In this presentation, we describe an integrated approach for the mol. basis for sweet taste among dipeptide-based ligands. By comparing the results obtained from x-ray diffraction studies with the conformations from NMR anal. and mol. modeling, we have obsd. recurring topochem. motifs that agree with previous models for sweet taste. In our examn. of the unexplored D zone of the Tinti-Nofre model, we have uncovered a sweet potency enhancing effect of a new set of aralkyl-substitutions on dipeptide ligands, which reveals the importance of arom.-arom. interactions in maintaining high potency.