title: Endless peptides--circular forms in nature.
abstract: Nature provides us with an enormous diversity of chemical structures which is an inspiration to chemists and pharmacologists seeking new drug candidates. Circular peptides which have been identified in bacteria, fungi, plants and some mammals but not in humans display exceptional stability and potent bioactivities. They play important roles as defense molecules for their host organisms, providing protection against microorganisms or insects and therefore can be adapted as scaffolds in drug development. Here we try to summarize the most important facts about the origin, biosynthesis and activities of this interesting group of natural products.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Adamska
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomolecular Chemistry, Medical University of Lodz, Mazowiecka 6/8, 92-215 Lodz, Poland. anna.janecka@umed.lodz.pl.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Janecka
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001688:Biological Products / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D001688:Biological Products; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic