Cyclotides, a versatile ultrastable micro-protein scaffold for biotechnological applications

[摘要] Cyclotides are fascinating microproteins (approximate to 30-40 residues long) with a unique head-to-tail cyclized backbone, stabilized by three disulfide bonds forming a cystine knot. This unique topology makes them exceptionally stable to chemical, thermal and biological degradation compared to other peptides of similar size. Cyclotides have been also found to be highly tolerant to sequence variability, aside from the conserved residues forming the cystine knot, able to cross cellular membranes and modulate intracellular protein-protein interactions both in vitro and in vivo. These properties make them ideal scaffolds for many biotechnological applications. This article provides and overview of the properties of cyclotides and their applications as molecular imaging agents and peptide-based therapeutics. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

[发布日期] 2017-12-01

[关键词] Cyclotide;Cystine knot;Circular protein;Drug design;Bioimaging agents;MCoTI-I;Kalata B1