Explainer: Why peptides are the ‘next big thing’ in medical research?

Biochemists are excited by the possibilities presented by peptides and proteins as pharmaceuticals because they so often mimic exactly the behavior of a natural ligand – the substance that interacts with the receptor on an enzyme or cell to cause a biological process.

Peptides are used for:
1. Self-Assembling Peptide Epitopes as Novel Platform for Anticancer Vaccination: OVA 250−264 and HPV16 E7 43−57.

2.Incorporation of DSPE-PEG and cRGD-modified DSPE-PEG molecules improves the biocompatibility and cellular uptake of the nanoprodrug platform: Click chemistry conjugation of peptides to PEGs. 

3. Designing Tracers for Imaging from Cyclic Peptides: ATTO, FITC, FAM, Cy3, Cy5, infrared C7. 

4. Co-delivery of tumor antigen and dual toll-like receptor ligands into dendritic cell: Cell Penetrating Peptides, HIV-TAT proteins, R8.