Title:Endless Peptides - Circular Forms in Nature
Volume: 22
Issue: 3
Author(s): Anna Adamska and Anna Janecka
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Bioactivity, biosynthesis, cyclic peptides, non-ribosomal peptide synthetases, review.
Abstract: Nature provides us with an enormous diversity of chemical structures which is an inspiration to
chemists and pharmacologists seeking new drug candidates. Circular peptides which have been identified
in bacteria, fungi, plants and some mammals but not in humans display exceptional stability and potent
bioactivities. They play important roles as defense molecules for their host organisms, providing protection
against microorganisms or insects and therefore can be adapted as scaffolds in drug development.
Here we try to summarize the most important facts about the origin, biosynthesis and activities of this interesting group of
natural products.
