Expanding the repertoire of immunomodulatory drugs: targeting the melanocortin system using engineered cyclic peptides

自身免疫性疾病，包括类风湿性关节炎和牛皮癣，对许多澳大利亚人的生活产生了深远的影响。这些疾病需要新的药物，因为现有的治疗方法昂贵，反复使用效果不佳或引起不良副作用。我的项目将通过研究超稳定环状微小蛋白作为展示生物活性肽的支架的潜力来解决这一需求，这些生物活性肽已知可以恢复免疫自身耐受性。

Autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, have profound impacts on the lives of many Australians. New drugs are required for these diseases as existing treatments are expensive, become less effective with repeated use or cause adverse side effects. My project will work towards addressing this need by investigating the potential of ultrastable cyclic miniproteins as scaffolds for displaying bioactive peptides that are known to restore immune self-tolerance.