| Date: September 14, 1998 |  Catalog Peptide Providers Table |
In the last 20 years or so, numerous peptides with a diverse array of biological activities have been identified. In the same time period, the advent of automated peptide synthesis has made these reagents cheap and easy to produce in large quantities. These developments have created a new class of research reagents, known as biologically active peptides. Many biologically active peptides occur naturally; however, many others have been designed to have specific activities--often modeled on the functional regions of characterized proteins.
Many naturally occurring peptides function as hormones, playing a role in activating or regulating various cellular pathways. For example, somatostatin, a 14 amino-acid peptide, binds to G-protein receptors on cell surfaces and inhibits the release of numerous physiological compounds, including insulin, glucagon, gastrin, and secretin. This peptide also functions as a neurotransmitter and recently received notoriety when it was shown to ...
