Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 24, Issue 17, 2017

Endogenous antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are evolutionary ancient molecular factors of innate immunity that play the key role in host defense. Because of the low resistance rate, AMPs have caught extensive attention as possible alternatives to conventional antibiotics. Over the last years, it has become evident that biological functions of AMPs are beyond direct killing of microbial cells. This review focuses on a relatively smal Read More

Background/Objective: Prothymosin alpha (proTα) is a ubiquitous polypeptide first isolated by Haritos in 1984, whose role still remains partly elusive. We know that proTα acts both, intracellularly, as an anti-apoptotic and proliferation mediator, and extracellularly, as a biologic response modifier mediating immune responses similarly to molecules termed as “alarmins”. Our research team pioneered the elucidation of the mechani Read More

The mammalian immune system is a nearly perfect defensive system polished by a hundred million years of evolution. Unique flexibility and adaptivity have created a virtually impenetrable barrier to numerous exogenous pathogens that are assaulting us every moment. Unfortunately, triggers that remain mostly enigmatic will sometimes persuade the immune system to retarget against self-antigens. This civil war rema Read More

Pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins are components of innate immunity system in plants. They play an important role in plant defense against pathogens. Lipid transfer proteins (LTPs) and Bet v 1 homologs comprise of two separate families of PR-proteins. Both LTPs (PR-14) and Bet v 1 homologs (PR-10) are multifunctional small proteins involving in plant response to abiotic and biotic stress conditions. The representative Read More

The Melanoma Inhibitory Activity (MIA) protein is strongly expressed and secreted by malignant melanoma cells and was shown to promote melanoma development and invasion. The MIA protein was the first extracellular protein shown to adopt an Src homology 3 (SH3) domain-like fold in solution that can bind to fibronectin type III domains. Together with MIA, the homologous proteins OTOR (or FDP), MIA-2, and TANGO ( Read More

Background: Peptides play decisive roles in the skin, ranging from host defense responses to various forms of neuroendocrine regulation of cell and organelle function. Synthetic peptides conjugated to radionuclides or photosensitizers may serve to identify and treat skin tumors and their metastatic forms in other organs of the body. In the introductory part of this review, the role and interplay of the different peptides in th Read More

IRS1 and IRS2 are the most important representatives of the IRS protein family and critical nodes in insulin/IGF1-signaling. Although they are quite similar in their structural and functional features they show tissue-specific differences. In this review, we outline the functions of IRS1 and IRS2 in skeletal muscle and liver with regard to their importance for metabolism, growth and differentiation. Mechanisms contributing to IRS1 a Read More

During the last years, the interest in combining the features of metal-containing molecules with biomolecules, particularly peptides, has been increased. Large series of new innovative organometallic compounds, as well as potent coordination complexes have been designed and, especially in medicinal chemistry, the library of bioactive compounds was excessively expanded by the introduction of metal complexes. The resea Read More

To this point, efforts to develop therapeutic peptides for intracellular applications were guided by the perception that unmodified linear peptides are highly unstable and therefore structural modifications are required to reduce proteolytic breakdown. Largely, this concept is a consequence of the fact that most research on intracellular peptides hitherto has focused on peptide degradation in the context of antigen processing, rathe Read More

Snakes are fascinating creatures and have been residents of this planet well before ancient humans dwelled the earth. Venomous snakes have been a figure of fear, and cause notable mortality throughout the world. The venom constitutes families of proteins and peptides with various isoforms that make it a cocktail of diverse molecules. These biomolecules are responsible for the disturbance in fundamental physiologi Read More

The Pseudechis colletti and Pseudechis butleri venoms were analyzed by 1-D gel electrophoresis, followed by mass spectrometric analysis of tryptic peptides obtained from the protein bands. Both venoms contain highly potent pharmacologically active components, which were assigned to the following protein families: basic and acidic phospholipases A2 (PLA2s), L-amino acid oxidases (LAAOs), P-III metalloproteinases (P-III SVM Read More