Sunflower Trypsin Inhibitor 1 as a Molecular Scaffold for Drug Discovery

Abstract

This work is focused on SFTI-1, a member of the Bowman-Birk family of inhibitors. This 14 amino acid cyclic peptide exhibits several features i.e. compact rigidity, well-defined structure and small size that could result in a wide range of potential applications. Some examples of engineering of the specificity of this inhibitor along with structure - activity relationships will be discussed herein. Additionally, potential uses of STFI-1 and its analogs as pharmaceutical agents will be described. Keywords: SFTI-1, inhibitor, serine proteinases, peptidomimetics, peptomers, analogs, pharmaceutical agents, cytotoxicity, trypsin, chymotrypsin