Adermann Knut, John Harald, Ständker Ludger, Forssmann Wolf-Georg
IPF Pharmaceuticals GmbH, Feodor-Lynen-Strasse 31, 30625 Hannover, Germany.
Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2004 Dec;15(6):599-606. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2004.10.007.
During the course of evolution, nature has developed a vast number of peptides in all living and past species that display an exceeding diversity of structure and biological effects, such as hormonal and enzyme-controlling activity, communication between cells, and participation in host defence. Sensitive mass spectrometric technologies have been introduced and facilitate access to new natural peptides, even in trace amounts, and allow the quantitative determination of the peptide status of cells, organs and whole organisms (peptidomics). Among the large number of new biologically active peptides identified from an increasing variety of natural sources, regulators of ion channels, chemoattractants, protease inhibitors, metabolism-related hormones, cytotoxins, and antimicrobials have been found. These novel peptides serve as research tools and have potential as diagnostic biomarkers and for the development of peptide and peptidometic drugs.
在进化过程中，自然界在所有现存和已灭绝的物种中都产生了大量的肽，这些肽展现出了极其多样的结构和生物学效应，比如激素和酶调控活性、细胞间通讯以及参与宿主防御。灵敏的质谱技术已被引入，这使得获取新的天然肽成为可能，即便其含量极微，并且能够对细胞、器官和整个生物体的肽状态进行定量测定（肽组学）。在从越来越多的天然来源中鉴定出的大量新型生物活性肽中，已发现了离子通道调节剂、趋化因子、蛋白酶抑制剂、代谢相关激素、细胞毒素和抗菌剂。这些新型肽可作为研究工具，并且具有作为诊断生物标志物以及用于肽和肽模拟药物开发的潜力。
