Bioactive Natural Peptides from Plants

Title:
Bioactive Natural Peptides from Plants

Schedule:
Date: 4 May 2023 (Thu)
Time: 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm (HKT)
Venue: CYP P3

Speaker:
Prof. James P. Tam

Lee Wee Nam Professor;
Director of Synthetic Enzymes and Natural Products Center, School of Biological Sciences;
Nanyang Technological University

Abstract:
Natural-product research on small-molecule plant metabolites (MW <0.5 kDa) has long been a fertile ground for drug discovery. In contrast, the corresponding protease-susceptible peptide natural products are overlooked. Over the past 25 years, our laboratory has initiated a “herbalomics” program to identify medicinal plant-derived cysteine-rich peptides (CRPs) with molecular weights ranging from 1.5 to 4.5 kDa and 3-5 disulfides. A feature commonly shared by such highly disulfide-crossbraced CRPs is their resistance to heat and proteolytic degradation, and which could render them orally bioavailable. Importantly, many are also cell-penetrating and able to target both extracellular and intracellular proteins, a desirable and long sought-after goal in drug discovery.

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