A peptide is a short-chain made up of two or more amino acids. Peptides have several functions in the body, and they are also the basis of various medications. More than 7000 naturally occurring peptides have been identified, and these often have crucial roles in human physiology, including actions as hormones, neurotransmitters, growth factors, ion channel ligands, or anti-infectives. As of 2017, more than 60 peptide drugs have been approved in the U.S and other markets worldwide. Peptides used in medicines are either naturally occurring or synthetic. Natural products of animal origin contain many peptides with biological activity, such as low-molecular-weight peptides separated and purified or cloned from the venoms of wasps, spiders, snakes, and other poisonous animals through biological technology, with good antibacterial, anti-tumor, anti-virus, anti-parasite, and other effects. Peptides represent an excellent starting point for designing novel therapeutics due to their pharmacological profile and intrinsic properties. Their specificity has been translated into excellent safety, tolerability, and efficacy profiles in humans.
Many of these animal-derived peptides have high specificity and potency toward molecular targets of therapeutic importance. However, these peptides are often not directly suitable for convenient therapeutics because they have intrinsic weaknesses, including poor chemical and physical stability, prone to hydrolysis and oxidation, the tendency for aggregation, low membrane permeability, short half-life, and fast elimination. In recent years, researchers have modified the structure of polypeptides by various methods, including acetylation, amidation, amino acid substitution, D-amino acid substitution, deletion of inactive amino acids, cyclization of cyclic peptides, and fatty acid modification of lipopeptides, in order to improve the shortcomings of peptides for their use as medicines. In this Research Topic, we will continue to build upon the strengths of naturally occurring peptides with the application of traditional rational design and modification to improve their weaknesses. We also expect that emerging peptide technologies, including multifunctional peptides, cell-penetrating peptides, and peptide drug conjugates, will help broaden the applicability of peptides as therapeutics. We aim to use the advantages of peptides through rational design and modification to produce more user-friendly products for therapy.
We prefer original articles with well-designed scientific studies that investigate novel hypotheses and ideas. Reviews on all aspects of animal-derived peptides also will be encouraged.
Animal-derived peptides have great medical potential. The section aims to publish research related to the discovery and function of animal-derived peptides to explore their medicinal potential. Areas covered by this section include, but are not limited to:
• Separation, purification, and screening of peptides
• Rational design and structure optimization of peptide therapeutics
• The function and mechanism of peptides in different fields
• Developing innovative multifunctional peptides through emerging technologies
Please note that clinical studies and original research based solely on in silico techniques will not be considered for review. Frontiers in Experimental Pharmacology and Drug Discovery does not accept publication studies carried out with crude extracts or mixtures. Only the use of highly purified, chemically characterized compounds is acceptable. Whenever a complex mixture is used, data with the single components of the mixture, in precisely defined dose/concentration, should be provided (and/or previously published). This also applies to in silico studies on supposed mechanisms underlying supposed actions of crude extracts and/or mixtures.
A peptide is a short-chain made up of two or more amino acids. Peptides have several functions in the body, and they are also the basis of various medications. More than 7000 naturally occurring peptides have been identified, and these often have crucial roles in human physiology, including actions as hormones, neurotransmitters, growth factors, ion channel ligands, or anti-infectives. As of 2017, more than 60 peptide drugs have been approved in the U.S and other markets worldwide. Peptides used in medicines are either naturally occurring or synthetic. Natural products of animal origin contain many peptides with biological activity, such as low-molecular-weight peptides separated and purified or cloned from the venoms of wasps, spiders, snakes, and other poisonous animals through biological technology, with good antibacterial, anti-tumor, anti-virus, anti-parasite, and other effects. Peptides represent an excellent starting point for designing novel therapeutics due to their pharmacological profile and intrinsic properties. Their specificity has been translated into excellent safety, tolerability, and efficacy profiles in humans.
Many of these animal-derived peptides have high specificity and potency toward molecular targets of therapeutic importance. However, these peptides are often not directly suitable for convenient therapeutics because they have intrinsic weaknesses, including poor chemical and physical stability, prone to hydrolysis and oxidation, the tendency for aggregation, low membrane permeability, short half-life, and fast elimination. In recent years, researchers have modified the structure of polypeptides by various methods, including acetylation, amidation, amino acid substitution, D-amino acid substitution, deletion of inactive amino acids, cyclization of cyclic peptides, and fatty acid modification of lipopeptides, in order to improve the shortcomings of peptides for their use as medicines. In this Research Topic, we will continue to build upon the strengths of naturally occurring peptides with the application of traditional rational design and modification to improve their weaknesses. We also expect that emerging peptide technologies, including multifunctional peptides, cell-penetrating peptides, and peptide drug conjugates, will help broaden the applicability of peptides as therapeutics. We aim to use the advantages of peptides through rational design and modification to produce more user-friendly products for therapy.
We prefer original articles with well-designed scientific studies that investigate novel hypotheses and ideas. Reviews on all aspects of animal-derived peptides also will be encouraged.
Animal-derived peptides have great medical potential. The section aims to publish research related to the discovery and function of animal-derived peptides to explore their medicinal potential. Areas covered by this section include, but are not limited to:
• Separation, purification, and screening of peptides
• Rational design and structure optimization of peptide therapeutics
• The function and mechanism of peptides in different fields
• Developing innovative multifunctional peptides through emerging technologies
Please note that clinical studies and original research based solely on in silico techniques will not be considered for review. Frontiers in Experimental Pharmacology and Drug Discovery does not accept publication studies carried out with crude extracts or mixtures. Only the use of highly purified, chemically characterized compounds is acceptable. Whenever a complex mixture is used, data with the single components of the mixture, in precisely defined dose/concentration, should be provided (and/or previously published). This also applies to in silico studies on supposed mechanisms underlying supposed actions of crude extracts and/or mixtures.
