Inibidores de Proteases Produzidos Por Cianobactérias: Uma Revisão

Abstract

Cyanobacteria produce various toxic and non-toxic peptides, some of which show remarkable biological activity, and thus have attracted the attention of the pharmaceutical industry. The peptides that have activities against protease have been considerably studied. Proteases are involved in a wide variety of physiological processes in the human body, including cell cycle progression, digesting food, angiogenesis, blood clotting, blood pressure regulation, antigen presentation, inflammation and apoptosis. Therefore, efforts have been made to characterize these protease inhibitors by identifying their structure, biosynthesis, physiology, bioactivity, toxicology and factors that regulate their production. Although a growing number of studies on cyanopeptides and their biosynthetic pathways are being made available, there are still scarce data on their physiological or ecological functions. New peptides, as well as new congeners of cyanopeptides, are being discovered along with their respective biosynthetic pathways. This review presents detailed information on the chemical characterization, biosynthesis and genetic, mechanism of action, biological activity and clinical application of peptide protease inhibitors aeruginosins, cyanopeptolins and microginins produced by cyanobacteria.