Among many anti-tumor drugs, peptides have been widely used in experimental anti-tumor research and clinical treatment because of their small molecular weight, strong targeting, high activity, weak toxicity, and easy absorption through membranes. Alfa Cytology is a leading service provider in pancreatic cancer (PC) research and related drug development. We offer a range of services to enable scalable PC targeting peptide drug development. In addition to PC targeting peptide screening, we also offer peptide design and optimization for PC therapy. Our services can improve the stability of the overall peptide, alter the structure to better understand the biological function, or enhance the immunogenicity of the peptide for drug development and production.
Overview of peptides
Peptides refer to short linear chains of amino acids (AA), usually stabilized by disulfide bonds (length < 50AA). Based on rational approaches with high specificity, they can be designed to bind and modulate protein interactions of interest. Peptide sequences can also be easily regulated as they are easily synthesized by chemical or molecular biology techniques. Moreover, since many sequences, structures and pattern interactions for oncogenic proteins are available, peptides can be specifically designed as inhibitors of these interactions.
The service offering at Alfa Cytology
Compared with traditional chemotherapeutic drugs, peptides as anti-tumor compounds have the advantages of high selectivity, low toxicity, and no drug resistance. However, it still has problems such as short half-life, poor stability, and easy degradation in vivo, as well as the possibility of large molecule peptides triggering an immune response in the body, which greatly limits the widespread use of peptide drugs. Herein, we provide the peptide design and optimization services aimed at preventing proteolytic degradation and increasing the in vivo half-life of peptide drugs.
- AI-driven peptide design & optimization
Powerful AI algorithms generate AI models that learn functional and phenotypic representations and explore unexplored and inaccessible peptide chemistry space to discover new peptides with desired properties. In addition, continuous, rich data collection further enhances AI-driven peptide design and optimization.
- Chemical modification
Chemical modification of peptides is accomplished by modifying the main chain structure and side chain groups of the peptide chain, consequently altering the physicochemical properties of the peptide compound to address its effective utilization in vivo. We provide common peptide chemical modification methods, including backbone modification, side-chain modification, synthetic amino acid substitution, phosphorylation modification, glycosylation modification, etc.
- List of our available specific modifications
-N-terminal modifications
-C-terminal modifications
-Special amino acids
-Fluorescent peptide modifications/FRET pairs
-Peptide conjugates
-Other modifications, such as MAPS, PEGylation, cyclic modifications
- Delivery specifications
All peptide synthesis is subject to strict quality control by Alfa Cytology. Typical deliveries include lyophilized peptides of the desired sequence, purity and quantity, and associated QC reports.
Thank you for your interest in our peptide design and optimization service. If you don't find the modification you are looking for, please feel free to contact us for more information.
References
- Lee, Andy Chi-Lung, et al. "A comprehensive review on current advances in peptide drug development and design." International journal of molecular sciences 20.10 (2019): 2383.
- Samec, Timothy, et al. "Peptide-based delivery of therapeutics in cancer treatment." Materials Today Bio (2022): 100248.