Current Protein and Peptide Science - Volume 6, Issue 3, 2005

Since the discovery that to enter target cells HIV uses receptors for the class of proteins known as chemokines, attempts have been made to generate anti-HIV molecules based on the chemokine ligands. A significant level of knowledge of the structure-activity relationships of chemokines has been amassed since the beginning of the 1990s. This, together with work that has elucidated the mechanisms underlying the inhibit Read More

The complex mixture of biologically active peptides that constitute the venom of Conus species provides a rich source of ion channel neurotoxins. These peptides, commonly known as conotoxins, exhibit a high degree of selectivity and potency for different ion channels and their subtypes making them invaluable tools for unravelling the secrets of the nervous system. Furthermore, several conotoxin molecules have profoun Read More

Serine proteinases fulfill and facilitate a broad spectrum of biological processes. They are held in check by different specific inhibitors. This delicate balance can be disturbed by genetic defects or exogenous influences and has been shown as the underlying or promoting cause for a large number of different diseases. For instance, proteinases are under investigation as drug targets for cancer, infections, neurodegenerativ Read More

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are effector molecules of the innate immune system. AMPs have a broad antimicrobial spectrum and lyse microbial cells by interaction with biomembranes. Besides their direct antimicrobial function, they have multiple roles as mediators of inflammation with impact on epithelial and inflammatory cells influencing diverse processes such as cytokine release, cell proliferation, angiogenesis, woun Read More

Reverse pharmacology is a screening technology that matches G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) with unknown cognate ligands in cell-based screening assays by detection of agonist-induced signaling pathways. One decade spent pursuing orphan GPCR screening by this technique assigned over 30 ligand/receptor pairs and revealed previously known or novel undescribed ligands, mostly of a peptidic nature. In this r Read More

Hepcidin, which has been recently identified both by biochemical and genomic approaches, is a 25 amino acid polypeptide synthesized mainly by hepatocytes and secreted into the plasma. Besides its potential activity in antimicrobial defense, hepcidin plays a major role in iron metabolism. It controls two key steps of iron bioavailability, likely through a hormonal action: digestive iron absorption by enterocytes and iron recyclin Read More