Peptides: Molecular and Biotechnological Aspects Volume 2

Dear Colleagues,

According to the World Health Organization, thousands of deaths are related to an unhealthy diet that stands as one of the main risk factors for non-communicable diseases, also known as chronic diseases. Among these disorders, the most diffuse are cardiovascular diseases and cancers, which bear the major responsibility for mortality and morbidity. The increased incidence of these diseases leads to the investigation of new therapies. Peptides have been emerging as an alternative treatment for many disorders. They can interact with a specific target, eliciting a physiological effect. This specificity causes fewer side effects and lower toxicity and confers excellent safety, tolerability and efficacy in humans.

The amino acid sequence of food proteins defines the biological activity of a peptide released after hydrolysis by proteases. This amino acid sequence that has physicochemical characteristics will perform biological activity. In addition to the release of peptides, by the action of proteases in the digestive system, obtaining bioactive peptides can also occur through the process of microbial fermentation where enzymes are produced and act on proteins and during food processing; these are the ways to obtain peptides with biological activities of proteins used as a food source.

On the other hand, these peptides have intrinsic weaknesses, with poor chemical and physical stability and short circulating plasma life. Many studies have been performed to design new drugs based on peptides, trying to minimize their disadvantages and improve their pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics. Despite numerous studies, the action mechanism of most peptides is not well known and necessitates further research.

Lately, there has been a rapid growth in therapies using peptides, causing a reformulation in the modern pharmaceutical industry and contributing significantly to the advancement of biological and chemical technologies. The market of pharmaceutical peptides has been increasing proportionally to the amount of research, with a projected annual growth rate of 9–10%. In 2018–2019, USD 70 billion of these medicines are expected to be sold, more than the amount predicted for pharmaceuticals worldwide. The market and development of peptide drugs currently has more than 150 peptides between products and Clinical Phases I, II and III.

Dr. Hamilton Cabral
Guest Editor

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• chronic diseases
• natural peptide
• mechanism of action
• peptide delivery
• peptide design
• peptide-protein interaction
• pharmaceutical peptide
• synthetic peptide
• biological activity of peptides
• peptide developments and peptide stability