Distinguished iNANO Lecture: Exploiting the human peptidome for novel anti- (and pro-) viral compounds

Prof. Dr. Jan Münch, Institute of Molecular Virology, Ulm University Medical Center, U-PEP, Ulm, Germany

Exploiting the human peptidome for novel anti- (and pro-) viral compounds

Almost all human proteins are subject to proteolytic degradation, which produces a broad range of peptides that have highly specific and sometimes unexpected functions. Peptide libraries that have been generated from human bodily fluids or tissues are a rich but mostly unexplored source of bioactive compounds that could be used to develop antimicrobial and immunomodulatory therapeutic agents. In my talk I will describe the discovery, optimization and application of endogenous bioactive peptides from human-derived peptide libraries, with a particular focus on the isolation of endogenous inhibitors and promoters of HIV 1 infection.