Rhodnius prolixus, the principal Chagas disease vector, requires a blood meal to complete its moult cycle into the next stage. Allatotropins (ATs), a family of peptides first isolated from Manduca sexta, have been shown to regulate the biosynthesis of juvenile hormone, an insect growth and development hormone; however, ATs, being multimodal peptides, also exhibit myotropic effects on some insec...

To assess functional importance of the residues in the amino- and carboxyl-termini of crustacean hyperglycemic hormone in the mud crab Scylla olivacea (Sco-CHH), both wild-type and point-mutated CHH peptides were produced with an amidated C-terminal end. Spectral analyses of circular dichroism, chromatographic retention time, and mass spectrometric analysis of the recombinant peptides indicate ...

The pp65(495-503) cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) epitope from cytomegalovirus (CMV) is universally recognized among CMV+ individuals who express an allele of the human leukocyte antigen A (HLA-A*0201). The relative binding affinity of the epitope to HLA-A*0201 is moderate, and its increased activity might prove beneficial in its use as a CTL epitope vaccine. A new approach to enhance the activity...

After therapeutic hormone deprivation, prostate cancer (CaP) cells often develop androgen-independent growth through not-well-defined mechanisms. The presence of neuroendocrine (NE) cells is often greater in prostate carcinoma than in normal prostate, and the frequency of NE cells correlates with tumor malignancy, loss of androgen sensitivity, increase of autocrine-paracrine activity, and poor ...

After therapeutic hormone deprivation, prostate cancer (CaP) cells often develop androgen-independent growth through not-well-defined mechanisms. The presence of neuroendocrine (NE) cells is often greater in prostate carcinoma than in normal prostate, and the frequency of NE cells correlates with tumor malignancy, loss of androgen sensitivity, increase of autocrine-paracrine activity, and poor ...

The neuropeptide BW receptor 1 (NPBW1, provisional nomenclature [6]) is activated by two 23-amino-acid peptides, W (neuropeptide W-23) and B B-23) [22, 7]. C-terminally extended forms of the peptides W-30 B-29) also activate NPBW1 [2]. Unique to both N-terminal bromination first tryptophan residue, it from this post-translational modification that NPB derived. These were identified bovine hypot...

The effects of amidated carboxymethylcellulose, amidated pectin, and psyllium on serum and hepatic cholesterol, hepatic fat, and fecal output of sterols were examined in female rats. Rats were fed a diet supplemented with cholesterol (0 or 10 g/kg) and palm fat. Amidated cellulose at 30 g/kg significantly decreased the serum and hepatic concentration of cholesterol by 28.1% and 64.6%, respectiv...

Lin et al. examined the effects of lipid chains attached to N-terminal antimicrobial peptides, a type membrane-active on their membrane activity and bioactivity. The impact lipidation varied depending original peptides' hydrophobicity. By altering peptide conformations affecting self-aggregation behaviours, changed peptide-biomembrane interaction, ultimately bioactivity (e329).

We report on the identification of active novel antimicrobials determined by screening both the genomic information and the mRNA transcripts from a number of different flatfish for sequences encoding antimicrobial peptides, predicting the sequences of active peptides from the genetic information, producing the predicted peptides chemically, and testing them for their activities. We amplified 35...