We propose to develop and evaluate peptide mimetics of growth factors within the fibrobtast growth factor family. We have designed and produced the first ever synthetic multi-domain peptides, F2A3 and F2A4, that mimic natural FGF-2 and stimulate the biological activity of the FGF receptor. We will expand on this to build peptide mimetics of FGF-1 and FGF-7. The new variants will be evaluated and compared to their recombinant FGF counterparts as well as our current FGF-2 mimetics in a variety of biochemical and cellular assays.
Thesaurus Terms: drug design /synthesis /production, fibroblast growth factor, peptide analog, radioprotective agent, synthetic peptide biomimetics, growth factor receptor, protein engineering, receptor binding
