Computer Analysis Leads to Discovery of Antiangiogenic Peptides

Biomedical engineers have combined bioinformatic computer models with cell-culture laboratory experiments to identify more than 100 peptides with antiangiogenic activity.

Investigators at Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD, USA) used computer programs to compare the amino acid sequences found in 40 known antiangiogenic peptides to the available sequences of all proteins encoded by the human genome. This approach led to the identification of more than 120 peptides contained in 82 different proteins, many of which were not previously known to have any activity on blood vessel development. These peptides are derived from members of the type IV collagen, thrombospondin, and CXC chemokine protein families, as well as somatotropin hormones, serpins, and various other proteins.

"Computational methods only identify potential candidates,” said senior author Dr. Aleksander Popel, professor of biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University. "We next had to do the experiments on live cells to see if they had any real activity. Of the 82 proteins we identified, most were not previously known to have any antiangiogenic activity.”

"Before, there were only 40 known antiangiogenesis peptides,” explained Dr. Popel. "Now, using a whole-genome, computer-based approach, we have identified more than 100 new ones, all of which can be further researched for their ability to fight the more than 30 known diseases affected by excessive blood vessel growth. Basic, computational studies like this are critical to understanding normal blood vessel growth. A better understanding of normal growth gives us a better idea of what happens in disease.”

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