title: Plant cyclotides: an unusual class of defense compounds.
abstract: Plant cyclotides are unusual peptides with low molecular masses and a three-dimensional structure characterized by the presence of a cyclic fold. Synthetic peptides can adopt this circular conformation, but it is not a common feature for most members of other peptide groups. Cyclotides present a wide range of functions, such as the ability to induce stronger contractions during childbirth and anti-tumor activity. Additionally, some cyclotides present anti-viral, insecticidal or proteinase inhibitory activity. In this paper, we describe the structural and functional characteristics of plant cyclotides, their most conserved features and the development of these peptides for human health and biotechnological applications.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Análises Proteômicas e Bioquímicas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Genômicas e Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil.
authors.forename: Patrícia B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Pelegrini
authors.forename: Betania F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Quirino
authors.forename: Octávio L
authors.initials: OL
authors.lastname: Franco
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D047169:Cyclotides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D047169:Cyclotides; D010940:Plant Proteins