Investigating the 3D Conformation of N-Terminally Constrained Oligopeptides

One Page Abstract Oligopeptides are becoming increasingly useful tools in molecular biology. For example, combinatorial random peptides have been used to great effect in drug development, while peptide libraries have been used to investigate active binding motifs. Cellular assays with short oligopeptides have been used to investigate biological signalling pathways. By palmitoylating the N-terminal of a short peptide it is possible attach it to the membrane in an attempt to mimic cytoplasmic regions of transmembrane proteins. Researchers in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland have pioneered this technique and demonstrated biological effects in human platelets for peptides matching small linear motifs from the cytoplasmic tails of different integrins involved in platelet activation signalling.