title: Discovery, structure, function, and applications of cyclotides: circular proteins from plants.
abstract: Cyclotides are plant-derived cyclic peptides that have a head-to-tail cyclic backbone and three conserved disulphide bonds that form a cyclic cystine knot motif. They occur in plants from the Violaceae, Rubiaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Fabaceae, and Solanaceae families, typically with 10-100 cyclotides in a given plant species, in a wide range of tissues, including flowers, leaves, stems, and roots. Some cyclotides are expressed in large amounts (up to 1g kg(-1) wet plant weight) and their natural function appears to be to protect plants from pests or pathogens. This article provides a brief overview of their discovery, distribution in plants, and applications. In particular, their exceptional stability has led to their use as peptide-based scaffolds in drug design applications. They also have potential as natural 'ecofriendly' insecticides, and as protein engineering frameworks.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weidmann
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia d.craik@imb.uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: David J
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0007-6796
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Craik
mesh_terms: D019662:Cucurbitaceae / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D047169:Cyclotides / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D007887:Fabaceae / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D019666:Rubiaceae / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019657:Solanaceae / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D029649:Violaceae / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D047169:Cyclotides; D010940:Plant Proteins
keywords: Cyclic peptides; cyclotides; drug design; insecticide; kalata B1; plant defence.