Immunosuppressive peptides and their therapeutic applications

•T cell signaling has a pivotal role in autoimmunity and immunosuppression.•Immunosuppressive pharmaceuticals often exhibit severe side-effects in patients.•Gene-encoded peptides have potential as immunosuppressive drug candidates.•Cyclotides are stable peptides that offer enhanced oral administrati...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Drug discovery today 2014-05, Vol.19 (5), p.645-653
Main Authors: Thell, Kathrin, Hellinger, Roland, Schabbauer, Gernot, Gruber, Christian W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amino Acid Sequence
Animals
Autoimmune Diseases - drug therapy
Autoimmune Diseases - genetics
Autoimmune Diseases - immunology
Cyclotides - genetics
Cyclotides - immunology
Cyclotides - therapeutic use
Humans
Immunosuppressive Agents - immunology
Immunosuppressive Agents - therapeutic use
Molecular Sequence Data
Peptides - genetics
Peptides - immunology
Peptides - therapeutic use
Review
T-Lymphocytes - immunology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:•T cell signaling has a pivotal role in autoimmunity and immunosuppression.•Immunosuppressive pharmaceuticals often exhibit severe side-effects in patients.•Gene-encoded peptides have potential as immunosuppressive drug candidates.•Cyclotides are stable peptides that offer enhanced oral administration properties. The immune system is vital for detecting and evading endogenous and exogenous threats to the body. Failure to regulate this homeostasis leads to autoimmunity, which is often associated with malfunctioning T cell signaling. Several medications are available to suppress over-reactive T lymphocytes, but many of the currently marketed drugs produce severe and life-threatening side-effects. Ribosomally synthesized peptides are gaining recognition from the pharmaceutical industry for their enhanced selectivity and decreased toxicity compared with small molecules; in particular, circular peptides exhibit remarkable stability and increased oral administration properties. For example, plant cyclotides effectively inhibit T lymphocyte proliferation. They are composed of a head-to-tail cyclized backbone and a cystine-knot motif, which confers them with remarkable stability, thus making them attractive pharmaceutical tools.
ISSN:1359-6446
1878-5832
DOI:10.1016/j.drudis.2013.12.002