Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia.
Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia.
Toxicon. 2019 Oct 25;172:33-44. doi: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2019.10.244. Epub 2019 Nov 1.
Cyclotides are a plant-derived family of peptides that comprise approximately 30 amino acid residues, a cyclic backbone and a cystine knot. Due to their unique structure, cyclotides are exceptionally stable to heat or proteolytic degradation and are tolerant to amino acid substitutions in their backbone loops between conserved cysteine residues. Their toxicity to insect pests and their make-up of natural amino acids has led to their applications in eco-friendly crop protection. Furthermore, their stability and cell penetrating properties make cyclotides ideal scaffolds for bioactive epitope grafting. This article gives a brief overview of cyclotide discovery, characterization, distribution, synthesis and mode of action mechanisms. We focus on their toxicities to insect pests and their medical and agricultural applications.
环肽是一类植物来源的肽，由大约 30 个氨基酸残基组成，具有环状骨架和半胱氨酸结。由于其独特的结构，环肽对热或蛋白水解降解具有非凡的稳定性，并且对保守半胱氨酸残基之间的骨架环中的氨基酸取代具有耐受性。它们对害虫的毒性以及其天然氨基酸组成导致它们在环保型作物保护中的应用。此外，它们的稳定性和细胞穿透特性使环肽成为生物活性表位嫁接的理想支架。本文简要概述了环肽的发现、特性、分布、合成和作用机制。我们重点介绍它们对害虫的毒性及其在医学和农业中的应用。
