Summary

High potency, specificity and a good safety profile are the main strengths of bioactive peptides as new and promising therapies that may fill the gap between small molecules and protein drugs. These positive attributes of peptides, along with advances in drug delivery technologies, have contributed to a renewed interest in the discovery, optimization and development of peptides as pharmacological therapy. The entry collection aims to cover all aspects of peptide research in relation to health promotion.

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Entries
Topic Review
Conformationally Constrained Peptides
Constrained Peptides are peptides whose conformation is restricted to the one that the ligand assumes upon target binding (or to a subset of structures occupied by a flexible parent peptide). This is typically achieved by macrocyclization of the peptide chain. Structure regidification is highly advantageous with regard to attaining increased affinity and can also affect proteolytic stability.
  • 1.0K
  • 25 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Growth hormon Central regulate metabolism
Growth hormone (GH) is secreted by the pituitary gland, and in addition to its classical functions of regulating height, protein synthesis, tissue growth, and cell proliferation, GH exerts profound effects on metabolism. In this regard, GH stimulates lipolysis in white adipose tissue and antago-nizes insulin’s effects on glycemic control. During the last decade, a wide distribution of GH-responsive neurons were identified in numerous brain areas, especially in hypothalamic nu-clei, that control metabolism. The specific role of GH action in different neuronal populations is now starting to be uncovered, and so far, it indicates that the brain is an important target of GH for the regulation of food intake, energy expenditure, and glycemia and neuroendocrine changes, particularly in response to different forms of metabolic stress such as glucoprivation, food re-striction, and physical exercise.
  • 769
  • 10 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Insulin
Insulin is used for the treatment of diabetes mellitus, which is characterized by hyperglycemia. Subcutaneous injections are the standard mode of delivery for insulin therapy; however, this procedure is very often invasive, which hinders patient compliance, particularly for individuals requiring insulin doses four times a day. Furthermore, cases have been reported of sudden hypoglycemia occurrences following multidose insulin injections. Such an invasive and intensive approach motivates the quest for alternative, more user-friendly insulin administration approaches. For example, transdermal delivery has numerous advantages, such as prolonged drug release, low variability in the drug plasma level, and improved patient compliance.
  • 1.2K
  • 05 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Hypotensive Peptides Derived from Ricebran
Hypertension is one of the major risk factors for arteriosclerosis. Anti-hypertensive peptides derived from animal proteins, such as milk, eggs and fish, are well studied. Anti-hypertensive peptides were also identified from plant proteins such as soybeans. Rice bran, a byproduct of white rice polishing, is rich in protein and its high protein efficiency ratio is well known. This entry discusses the anti-hypertensive peptides identified from rice bran protein and their mechanisms. Also, author described protease-digested rice bran from which functional peptides were not isolated. 
  • 419
  • 26 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Grifola Frondosa
Grifola frondosa (G. frondosa) is a Basidiomycetes fungus that belongs to the family of Grifolaceae and the order of Polyporales.
  • 1.4K
  • 09 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Cyanobacteria and Microalgae Antibacterial Peptides
Cyanobacteria and microalgae are oxygen-producing photosynthetic unicellular organisms encompassing a great diversity of species, which are able to grow under all types of extreme environments and exposed to a wide variety of predators and microbial pathogens. The antibacterial compounds described for these organisms include organic compounds such as  alkaloids, fatty acids, indoles, macrolides, phenols, pigments and terpenes, among others, but the peptides have an special pharmacological appeal, due to their broad chemical space, achieved by their dual biosynthetic alternatives in cyanobacteria, the ribosomal synthesis, or a polypeptide assembly through the non-ribosomal peptide synthases. This diversity ensures a broad range of biological properties with a large pharmacological potential.   
  • 1.1K
  • 14 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Antimicrobial Peptides in Farm Animals
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are the arsenals of the innate host defense system, exhibiting evolutionarily conserved characteristics that are present in practically all forms of life. Recent years have witnessed the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria compounded with a slow discovery rate for new antibiotics that have necessitated scientific efforts to search for alternatives to antibiotics. Research on the identification of AMPs has generated very encouraging evidence that they curb infectious pathologies and are also useful as novel biologics to function as immunotherapeutic agents. Being innate, they exhibit the least cytotoxicity to the host and exerts a wide spectrum of biological activity including low resistance among microbes and increased wound healing actions. Notably, in veterinary science, the constant practice of massive doses of antibiotics with inappropriate withdrawal programs led to a high risk of livestock-associated antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, the world faces tremendous pressure for designing and devising strategies to mitigate the use of antibiotics in animals and keep it safe for posterity.
  • 1.0K
  • 07 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Lactoferrin and Its Derived Peptides
Lf is bacteriostatic and/or bactericidal, can stimulate cell proliferation and differentiation, facilitate iron absorption, improve neural development and cognition, promote bone growth, prevent cancer and exert anti-inflammatory and immunoregulatory effects.
  • 575
  • 29 Dec 2020
Topic Review
New AMPs' Prediction and Development
Theoretical methods for finding and predicting new antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), based on the use of specially designed programs for these purposes, are making an increasing contribution to the development of new AMPs. Machine learning methods are also used for the prediction. Artificial neural networks perform highly accurate predictions based on rules from databases of antimicrobial peptides. Recently published data on the development of new AMP drugs based on a combination of molecular design and genetic engineering approaches are presented. This review examines AMP development strategies from the perspective of the current high prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and the potential prospects and challenges of using AMPs against infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In turn, we proposed another strategy for the development of new AMPs based on predicting amyloidogenic regions in a protein molecule sequence.
  • 963
  • 30 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Antimicrobial Peptides for Wound Infections
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), also called host defense peptides (HDPs), are found in bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals. They typically consist of 10–50 amino acid residues (very rarely up to 100 amino acids) and generally possess cationic (net charge ranging from −4 to +20) and amphipathic structures. 
  • 2.4K
  • 09 Dec 2020
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