Peptide and Protein Design for Biopharmaceutical Applications

Book excerpt: Peptides serve as effective drugs in the clinic today. However the inherent drawbacks of peptide structures can limit their efficacy as drugs. To overcome this researchers are developing new methods to create ‘tailor-made’ peptides and proteins with improved pharmacological properties. Design of Peptides and Proteins provides an overview of the experimental and computational methods for peptide and protein design, with an emphasis on specific applications for therapeutics and biomedical research. Topics covered include: Computer modeling of peptides and proteins Peptidomimetics Design and synthesis of cyclic peptides Carbohydrates in peptide and protein design De novo design of peptides and proteins Medical development applications An extended case study – the design of insulin variants Design of Peptides and Proteins presents the state-of-the-art of this exciting approach for therapeutics, with contributions from international experts. It is an essential resource for academic and industrial scientists in the fields of peptide and protein drug design, biomedicine, biochemistry, biophysics, molecular modelling, synthetic organic chemistry and medicinal/pharmaceutical chemistry.