Peptides as Drugs: Discovery And Development

This book represents a case study based overview of many different aspects of drug development, ranging from target identification and characterization to chemical optimization for efficacy and safety, as well as bioproduction of natural products utilizing for example lichen. Since drug development is a highly complex multidisciplinary process, case studies are an excellent tool to obtain insight in this field.

This book presents the exploration and exploitation of various bioactive metabolites obtained from fungi isolated from diverse habitats for pharmaceutical applications. Various fungal sources have been brought under one umbrella ranging from endophytes, marine fungi, endolichenic fungi to fungi existing in the extremophilic conditions like desert and Antarctica and Artic environment. The book tries to cover maximally the range of the pharmaceutical applications wherein these bioactive agents from fungi have been exploited or are in the clinical pipelines and primarily include antibacterial, antifungal, antibiofilm, anticancer, antioxidant, autoimmunological, anti-inflammatory, and anti-thrombotic diseases. The book further emphasizes on the novel strategies to screen or enhance secondary metabolite production. Some other topics includes peptides, nonpeptides drugs, pigments, and enhancement of production of Echinocandin and Kojic acid. The role of bioinformatics in drug discovery and biotransformations have also been discussed.

This book contains an overview focusing on the research area of enzyme inhibitors, molecular aspects of drug metabolism, organic synthesis, prodrug synthesis, in silico studies and chemical compounds used in relevant approaches. The book deals with basic issues and some of the recent developments in medicinal chemistry and drug design. Particular emphasis is devoted to both theoretical and experimental aspect of modern drug design. The primary target audience for the book includes students, researchers, biologists, chemists, chemical engineers and professionals who are interested in associated areas. The textbook is written by international scientists with expertise in chemistry, protein biochemistry, enzymology, molecular biology and genetics many of which are active in biochemical and biomedical research.

This brief describes studies conducted by the authors on mid-size drugs utilizing peptides and peptidomimetics, and on the development of anti-HIV agents. Peptides are important biological molecules and have various physiological actions. Peptide-based drug discovery may help bring about the development of useful medicines that are highly safe and show potent pharmacological effects in small doses. Recently, it has been shown that there is an important drug-like space in the mid-sized region between low- and high-molecular-weight compounds.

This brief describes studies conducted by the authors on mid-size drugs utilizing peptides and peptidomimetics, and on the development of anti-HIV agents. Peptides are important biological molecules and have various physiological actions. Peptide-based drug discovery may help bring about the development of useful medicines that are highly safe and show potent pharmacological effects in small doses.