Current Protein and Peptide Science - Volume 18, Issue 8, 2017

Parvalbumin (PA) is a classical small, mostly cytosolic Ca2+-binding protein of the EF-hand superfamily expressed in vertebrates in a tissue- and cell-specific manner, serving as a magnesium/ calcium buffer. In the last decade novel data were published on structural peculiarities of PA, likely affecting its functionality. This review sums up these findings and discusses their potential physiological significance.

There is growing recognition that composition and metabolic activity of the gut microbiota can be modulated by the dietary proteins which in turn impact health. The amino acid composition and digestibility of proteins, which are influenced by its source and amount of intake, play a pivotal role in determining the microbiota. Reciprocally, it appears that the gut microbiota is also able to affect protein metabolism which gives rise t Read More

In 2004, the first nonpeptide selective angiotensin II type 2 receptor (AT2R) agonist was reported. This nonpeptide (C21), which, exerts anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic actions in vivo, has been extensively explored and is currently in clinical trials. Subsequently, a large number of related drug-like AT2R agonists have been disclosed. Reviews that summarize known structure-activity relationships (SAR) of nonpeptide Read More

Tribbles homolog 3 (TRIB3) is a mammalian gene that is upregulated in response to several types of cell death-inducing cellular stress. The TRIB3 protein is a pseudokinase, a protein kinase-like scaffold with impaired catalytic activity. However, research has revealed it to be prolific at forming protein– protein interactions. By binding to and regulating the activity of several key proteins, including the protein kinase Akt and transc Read More

Dipeptidyl peptidases (DPPs) belong to one of the protease families classified under EC 3.4.14 in the Nomenclature Committee of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. DPPs family consists of eight members in the mammalian species. They play a role in oligopeptide N-terminal processing and degradation of bioactive peptides. Over the past 20 years, most of the studies have been focused on DPP 4 that Read More

Bioactive molecules such as peptides and proteins can optimize the repair of bone tissue; however, the results are often unpredictable when administered alone, owing to their short biological half-life and instability. Thus, the development of bioactive molecule-loaded drug delivery systems (DDS) to repair bone tissue has been the subject of intense research. DDS can optimize the repair of bone tissue owing to their Read More

The aim of this review is to cover most recent research on plant pathogenesis- and defenserelated proteins from latex-bearing medicinal plant Chelidonium majus (Papaveraceae) in the context of its importance for latex activity, function, pharmacological activities, and antiviral medicinal use. These results are compared with other latex-bearing plant species and recent research on proteins and chemical compounds conta Read More