Small Peptide Acts Like Antibody

Abstract

A peptide scaffold made partly of nonnatural β-amino acids could serve as a versatile source of potential drugs that bind large proteins such as the anticancer target VEGF, researchers report. The nonnatural peptides offer a possibly advantageous alternative to antibody-based agents that target large proteins because the peptides are easier to make and may last longer in the body. To modulate the activity of proteins such as VEGF, drugmakers must block their interactions with other proteins. These interactions occur over large surface areas, making them difficult to interrupt with conventional small-molecule drugs. Antibody-based agents are large enough to be effective but are expensive, hard to produce, and can be susceptible to enzymatic breakdown in the body. Some researchers have tried to bridge the gap between small molecules and antibodies by developing midsized scaffolds that can interact with large proteins. In the mid-1990s, Per-Ake Nygren of the Royal Institute of Technology, ...