Peptide

A tetrapeptide (example Val-Gly-Ser-Ala) with green marked amino end (L-Valine) and
blue marked carboxyl end (L-Alanine).

Peptides (from Gr.: πεπτός, peptós "digested"; derived from πέσσειν, péssein "to digest") are short chains of amino acid monomers linked by peptide (amide) bonds.

The covalent chemical bonds are formed when the carboxyl group of one amino acid reacts with the amino group of another. The shortest peptides are dipeptides, consisting of 2 amino acids joined by a single peptide bond, followed by tripeptides, tetrapeptides, etc. A polypeptide is a long, continuous, and unbranched peptide chain. Hence, peptides fall under the broad chemical classes of biological oligomers and polymers, alongside nucleic acids, oligosaccharides and polysaccharides, etc.

Peptides are distinguished from proteins on the basis of size, and as an arbitrary benchmark can be understood to contain approximately 50 or fewer amino acids.^[1][2] Proteins consist of one or more polypeptides arranged in a biologically functional way, often bound to ligands such as coenzymes and cofactors, or to another protein or other macromolecule (DNA, RNA, etc.), or to complex macromolecular assemblies.^[3] Finally, while aspects of the lab techniques applied to peptides versus polypeptides and proteins differ (e.g., the specifics of electrophoresis, chromatography, etc.), the size boundaries that distinguish peptides from polypeptides and proteins are not absolute: long peptides such as amyloid beta have been referred to as proteins, and smaller proteins like insulin have been considered peptides.

Amino acids that have been incorporated into peptides are termed "residues" due to the release of either a hydrogen ion from the amine end or a hydroxyl ion (OH⁻) from the carboxyl (COOH) end, or both, as a water molecule is released during formation of each amide bond.^[4] All peptides except cyclic peptides have an N-terminal and C-terminal residue at the end of the peptide (as shown for the tetrapeptide in the image).

Peptide classes

Many kinds of peptides are known. They have been classified or categorized according to their sources and function. According to the Handbook of Biologically Active Peptides, some groups of peptides include plant peptides, bacterial/antibiotic peptides, fungal peptides, invertebrate peptides, amphibian/skin peptides, venom peptides, cancer/anticancer peptides, vaccine peptides , immune/inflammatory peptides, brain peptides, endocrine peptides, ingestive peptides, gastrointestinal peptides, cardiovascular peptides, renal peptides, respiratory peptides, opiate peptides, neurotrophic peptides, and blood–brain peptides.^[5]

Some ribosomal peptides are subject to proteolysis. These function, typically in higher organisms, as hormones and signaling molecules. Some organisms produce peptides as antibiotics, such as microcins.^[6]

Peptides frequently have posttranslational modifications such as phosphorylation, hydroxylation, sulfonation, palmitoylation, glycosylation and disulfide formation. In general, peptides are linear, although lariat structures have been observed.^[7] More exotic manipulations do occur, such as racemization of L-amino acids to D-amino acids in platypus venom.^[8]

Nonribosomal peptides are assembled by enzymes, not the ribosome. A common non-ribosomal peptide is glutathione, a component of the antioxidant defenses of most aerobic organisms.^[9] Other nonribosomal peptides are most common in unicellular organisms, plants, and fungi and are synthesized by modular enzyme complexes called nonribosomal peptide synthetases.^[10]

These complexes are often laid out in a similar fashion, and they can contain many different modules to perform a diverse set of chemical manipulations on the developing product.^[11] These peptides are often cyclic and can have highly complex cyclic structures, although linear nonribosomal peptides are also common. Since the system is closely related to the machinery for building fatty acids and polyketides, hybrid compounds are often found. The presence of oxazoles or thiazoles often indicates that the compound was synthesized in this fashion.^[12]

Peptide fragments refer to fragments of proteins that are used to identify or quantify the source protein.^[13] Often these are the products of enzymatic degradation performed in the laboratory on a controlled sample, but can also be forensic or paleontological samples that have been degraded by natural effects.^[14][15]

Peptide synthesis

Solid-phase peptide synthesis on a rink amide resin using Fmoc-α-amine-protected amino acid

Peptides in molecular biology

Peptides received prominence in molecular biology for several reasons. The first is that peptides allow the creation of peptide antibodies in animals without the need of purifying the protein of interest.^[16] This involves synthesizing antigenic peptides of sections of the protein of interest. These will then be used to make antibodies in a rabbit or mouse against the protein.

Another reason is that peptides have become instrumental in mass spectrometry, allowing the identification of proteins of interest based on peptide masses and sequence.

Peptides have recently been used in the study of protein structure and function. For example, synthetic peptides can be used as probes to see where protein-peptide interactions occur- see the page on Protein tags.

Inhibitory peptides are also used in clinical research to examine the effects of peptides on the inhibition of cancer proteins and other diseases.^[17] For example, one of the most promising application is through peptides that target LHRH.^[18] These particular peptides act as an agonist, meaning that they bind to a cell in a way that regulates LHRH receptors. The process of inhibiting the cell receptors suggests that peptides could be beneficial in treating prostate cancer. However, additional investigations and experiments are required before the cancer-fighting attributes, exhibited by peptides, can be considered definitive.^[19]

Well-known peptide families

The peptide families in this section are ribosomal peptides, usually with hormonal activity. All of these peptides are synthesized by cells as longer "propeptides" or "proproteins" and truncated prior to exiting the cell. They are released into the bloodstream where they perform their signaling functions.

Terminology

Length

Several terms related to peptides have no strict length definitions, and there is often overlap in their usage.

• A polypeptide is a single linear chain of many amino acids (any length), held together by amide bonds.
• A protein consists of one or more polypeptides (more than about 50 amino acids long).
• An oligopeptide consists of only a few amino acids (between two and twenty).

A tripeptide (example Val-Gly-Ala) with
green marked amino end (L-Valine) and
blue marked carboxyl end (L-Alanine)

Doping in sports

The term peptide has been used to mean secretagogue peptides and peptide hormones in sports doping matters: secretagogue peptides are classified as Schedule 2 (S2) prohibited substances on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List, and are therefore prohibited for use by professional athletes both in and out of competition. Such secretagogue peptides have been on the WADA prohibited substances list since at least 2008. The Australian Crime Commission cited the alleged misuse of secretagogue peptides in Australian sport including growth hormone releasing peptides CJC-1295, GHRP-6, and GHSR (gene) hexarelin. There is ongoing controversy on the legality of using secretagogue peptides in sports.^[25]

See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Peptide

References