Title:
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Functional studies on the peptides from amphibian skin secretions
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Therapeutic peptides are continuing to grow in prominence among pharmaceutical manufacturers. Drugs based on peptides offer lower toxicity, show higher specificity, and demonstrate fewer toxicology issues than small molecule drugs. The specificity of peptides has tremendous clinical value and makes them very attractive and potentially lucrative therapeutics. In order to protect themselves from a great variety of potential predators, amphibians have evolved different morphological, physiological and behavioural features. One such defence mechanism is the secretion from granular skin glands. Frogs and toads have two different types of skin glands -mucous and granular. The mucous glands are present throughout the skin and their secretion provides a moist coating that is necessary for cutaneous respiration. The granular glands may be distributed across the body but are often concentrated around the head or neck and are usually activated by stress or injury. Secretions from these glands are complex, species-specific cocktails of bioactive molecules, including peptides. The Chinese have perhaps the most advanced and temporally tested system of natural therapies among traditional medicines and therapeutics have been derived from both plants and animals, including amphibians. This study focuses on the vast potential of natural peptide libraries contained in amphibian skin secretions as a source of novel drug candidates for conditions such as hypertension, cancer, and bacterial infection.
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