Peptides

Christopher Schirwitz's thesis focuses on improving the quality of in situ synthesized high-complexity peptide micro arrays. Micro arrays containing proteins or small protein fragments in the form of peptides have become of great interest in proteomic research.

Amino Acids, Peptides and Proteins comprises a comprehensive review of significant developments at this biology/chemistry interface. Each volume of this Specialist Periodical Report opens with an overview of amino acids and their applications.

Solid-binding peptides have been used increasingly as molecular building blocks in nanobiotechnology as they can direct the assembly and functionalisation of a diverse range of materials and have the ability to regulate the synthesis of nanoparticles and complex nanostructures. Nanostructured materials such as β-sheet fibril-forming peptides and α-helical coiled coil systems have displayed many useful properties including stimulus-responsiveness, modularity and multi-functionality, providing potential technological applications in tissue engineering, antimicrobials, drug delivery and nanoscale electronics.

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.