Biology :: Macromolecules:: Peptides:: Anti-Microbial Peptides and Importance
Question :: " Why should I study about Peptides ? Why are they important? "
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Multi-cellular organisms are constantly under assault by pathogenic infectious microorganisms.
Thankfully, more than 1 billion years of evolution have equipped most multi-cellular life with a host of methods to intercept and destroy invading pathogens: by two distinct protective schemes: innate and adaptive immunity. Of the two methods, the adaptive immunological response is the most well-known and extensively studied. Adaptive or acquired immunity, present in most vertebrate animals. Historically, innate immunity has not enjoyed the same deep level of interest and study as the adaptive immunological response. However, investigation of innate immunological response to infection has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years, due in part to interest in co opting elements of innate immunity for advanced therapeutic applications.
Antimicrobial peptides are one example of a research field that has recently gathered extensive interest. Antimicrobial peptides (or AMPs) are a diverse class highly of conserved of small peptide molecules that attack, destroy, and deactivate invading bacterial, viral, or fungal pathogens in a variety of different ways. |
A larger group of cat-ionic antimicrobial peptides are found in animals. Peptides include linear, helical peptides & linear peptides ::
Examples:
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