U.S.-Poland Biophysics Research on Design of Peptide Mimetics

加州大学旧金山中心药学院的Peter A.Kollman博士和波兰华沙大学的Piotr Cieplak博士共同开展的这项美国-波兰研究项目的目标是进行理论计算，以设计有可能成为HIV蛋白酶、热溶酶和弹力酶等蛋白质的优秀抑制剂的多肽类似物。这种酶的抑制剂的成功设计，如果被证明具有治疗价值，就可以用来对抗艾滋病病毒。同样类型的设计可以转移到其他天冬氨酸蛋白酶的抑制剂上，如肾素，这将提供治疗高血压的方法。使用同样的原理，可以选择性地抑制丝氨酸蛋白酶，如人白细胞弹性蛋白酶，作为治疗肺气肿或其他此类退行性疾病的潜在药物。这个生物物理学项目通过使美国和东欧的顶尖专家能够将互补的人才结合在一起，并在相互感兴趣和能力很强的领域汇集资源，从而实现了促进科学知识的计划目标。

The objective of this U.S.-Poland research project between Dr. Peter A. Kollman of the School of Pharmacy, University of California, San Francisco Center, and Dr. Piotr Cieplak of the University of Warsaw, Poland, is to carry out theoretical calculations to design peptide analogs that have the potential to be excellent inhibitors of the proteins HIV protease, thermolysin and elastase. The successful design of an inhibitor for this enzyme, should it prove of therapeutic value, could be used against the AIDS virus. The same type of design could be transferred to the inhibitor of other aspartyl proteases such as renin, which would provide therapy against hypertension. Selective inhibition of serine proteases such as human leucocyte elastase as a potential drug against emphysema or other such degenerative diseases might be achieved using the same principles. This project in biophysics fulfills the program objective of advancing scientific knowledge by enabling leading experts in the United States and Eastern Europe to combine complementary talents and pool resources in areas of strong mutual interest and competence.