%0 Journal Article
%T Potential of Peptides as Inhibitors and Mimotopes: Selection of Carbohydrate-Mimetic Peptides from Phage Display Libraries
%A Teruhiko Matsubara
%J Journal of Nucleic Acids
%D 2012
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2012/740982
%X Glycoconjugates play various roles in biological processes. In particular, oligosaccharides on the surface of animal cells are involved in virus infection and cell-cell communication. Inhibitors of carbohydrate-protein interactions are potential antiviral drugs. Several anti-influenza drugs such as oseltamivir and zanamivir are derivatives of sialic acid, which inhibits neuraminidase. However, it is very difficult to prepare a diverse range of sugar derivatives by chemical synthesis or by the isolation of natural products. In addition, the pathogenic capsular polysaccharides of bacteria are carbohydrate antigens, for which a safe and efficacious method of vaccination is required. Phage-display technology has been improved to enable the identification of peptides that bind to carbohydrate-binding proteins, such as lectins and antibodies, from a large repertoire of peptide sequences. These peptides are known as ˇ°carbohydrate-mimetic peptides (CMPs)ˇ± because they mimic carbohydrate structures. Compared to carbohydrate derivatives, it is easy to prepare mono- and multivalent peptides and then to modify them to create various derivatives. Such mimetic peptides are available as peptide inhibitors of carbohydrate-protein interactions and peptide mimotopes that are conjugated with adjuvant for vaccination. 1. Introduction A variety of glycoconjugate carbohydrate structures on the cell surface are important for biological events [1]. Carbohydrate structures on the cell surface change according to cell status, for example, during development, differentiation, and malignant alteration. Several glycoconjugates, including stage-specific embryonic antigen (SSEA)-3, SSEA-4, and tumor-rejection antigen (TRA)-1-60, are used as molecular makers of pluripotency to control the quality of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells [2]. Carbohydrate-protein interactions are the first cell surface events in cell-cell communication, following which processes such as infection and signal transduction occur. However, the reasons for the changes in carbohydrate structures on the cell surface are not clear. In addition, most receptors for glycoconjugates have not been identified. To investigate the biological roles of carbohydrates, sets of carbohydrates and their corresponding carbohydrate-binding proteins are required. Carbohydrate-binding proteins such as plant lectins, bacterial toxins, and anticarbohydrate antibodies are available for studying carbohydrate-protein interactions [3, 4]. However, the repertoire of carbohydrate structures recognized by these proteins is limited and
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jna/2012/740982/