Peptide Chemistry
Peptides are gaining increasing popularity as therapeutics in modern times. Peptides are already being therapeutically used in diverse areas of medicine such as neurology, endocrinology and haematology.
Peptide Chemistry is a branch of biological science which lends itself useful for the discovery of ethical drugs in the treatment of human physiological problems.
Therapeutically, peptide chemistry offers a promising hope of integrating nature’s holistic way of caring with the intelligence of modern science.
Role of Peptides in Medicine:
Amino acid sequences – whether they are in peptides or in proteins – control and direct all aspects of cellular function and coordinate most intercellular communication. No other class of biological molecules offers the range of chemical diversity that peptides and proteins possess. They are nature’s tool kit and the more we can use native peptides or closely related analogues, the safer and more specific the drugs at the physician’s disposal
Peptide-based drugs directly impact the complex human physiology, thus amplifying the substantial & fundamental effects of drugs for treatment & therapies. Furthermore, recent commercialization in the manufacturing of peptides has made amino acid compounds more readily available for cost, flexibility, & effectiveness.
Peptides are known to offer lower toxicity when compared to drugs of chemical molecules. Also, it is a fact that peptides show higher specificity & demonstrate fewer toxicity issues. In some cases peptides have led to the discovery of new & efficacious compounds that are otherwise unavailable or time -consuming to develop.
Peptides act or perform by binding to specific cell surface receptors. The perfect therapeutic agent of Peptides would be a small-molecular-mass chemical mimic of the receptor ligand, which would be economical to manufacture and could get to the site of action after oral administration. Peptides have a complex tertiary structure or configuration & the cell receptors are large with various binding sites. Owing to these reasons of specificity & affording the strength of protection, the resistance & protection against bacterial toxins is significantly improved.
The scope of peptides is not only limited to be used as the active ingredient of new drugs for cancer and metabolic disorders such as diabetes, obesity and osteoporosis, etc., but also as “add-ons” to other pharmaceutical agents to direct them to their targets, to ferry them across cellular membranes, and to modify their biological action.
Advantages of Peptides in Medicine:
Peptides play a pivotal role in the primary physiological and biochemical functions of life, thus directly supporting the much intricate biochemistry of in humans & mammals.
In comparison to small chemical entity drugs, peptide based drugs possess definite & encouraging characteristics, including:-
- Higher potency: Peptide based drugs generally are very active on their target receptor, which translates into a high effect at a low dose
- Higher selectivity: Peptides have a very tight fit to their receptors, which makes them much more selective than smaller molecules concluding that they bind only to their target receptor and are therefore less likely to be associated with serious adverse effects.
- Better safety: Peptides are naturally degraded in the blood stream by circulating enzymes to their component amino acids. As these are natural biological products, peptide drugs are also associated with less accumulation in body tissue and fewer toxicity findings.
- Peptides as active pharmaceutical ingredients offer a promise to revive & rejuvenate the pharmaceutical industry by developing & delivering novel techniques for present & future drug therapies. Since it is crucial to enable cost-effective & faster commercialization of peptide-based therapies, a profound knowledge of peptide manufacturing methods will optimize yield & its purity for therapeutic & industrial use.
We at Puneet Laboratories envisioned the potential for peptide therapeutics and have developed certain products under this category.
Our products include:L-carnosine an anti-aging natural supplement which extends cellular lifespan by rejuvenating skin.
*Our other protein of peptide therapeutics formulations linked to peptide chemistry is Glutathione: Tripeptide- under development.
i) The Future of Peptide Development in the Pharmaceutical Industry Rodney Lax, Ph.D., Senior Director of Business Development North America, PolyPeptide Group
ii) http://www.pharmpro.com/articles/2009/06/peptide-synthesis-pharmaceutical-manufacturing
iii) C.M.B. Edwards, M.A. Cohen and S.R. Bloom ; ICSM Endocrine Unit Hammersmith Hospital London, Association of Physicians 1999
iv) http://www.zealandpharma.com/research-and-development/key-zealand-peptide-competences/strategy-and-core-competencies
