However, new research suggests another answer may be a hormone called glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1).
Increasingly, scientists believe that a protein called amyloid peptide is the culprit in Alzheimer's disease.
It does so by biting off bits of the glucagon-like peptide-1 or GLP-1 hormone.
Bacteria do produce proteolytic enzymes, which may degrade peptide antibiotics which could lead to resistance.
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Peptide vaccines: These also train the immune system to recognize proteins associated with the HIV virus.
The company which cites the Symrise test as proof of efficacy also sells peptide-containing mascara and eyeliner.
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In recent years scientists at Merck and elsewhere have identified enzymes involved in producing amyloid peptide.
It is the most abundant peptide in our brain, affecting everything from heart function to sodium balance.
The peptide enhances production of keratin, a protein that is a major component of hair, according to Symrise.
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But current evidence suggests that another clumped form of the amyloid peptide is more toxic than the plaque.
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Each peptide has a weight that depends on whether it was produced from the original or the mutant virus.
In the late 1970s Harvard Medical School researcher Joel Habener serendipitously discovered a hormone in monkfish called GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide).
By feeding the entire mixture into the mass spectrometer, the researchers can quickly spot a peptide produced by a mutant.
They picked a hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) that is made by intestinal cells in response to sugar and fat.
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In contrast, the peptide antibiotics are less vulnerable to resistance because they infiltrate and damage the membrane that holds the bacterium together.
But anybody who has ever fallen in love knows that love is not just an elevated level of some peptide in the hypothalamus.
It is also possible that an athlete has a medical condition that has led to abnormally high levels of naturally occurring peptide hormones.
And since biologists already know which part of the genome makes which peptide, this approach immediately shows whereabouts in the genome the mutation is.
Merck is now racing to devise the first drugs that gum up the enzymes and slow formation of the deadly amyloid peptide and plaques.
This same mechanism has been shown to occur with peptide antibiotics.
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They found that the peptide was overly abundant in the mutant mice, and that its expression was usually repressed by the normal version of MeCP2.
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Peroxynitrite is a source of hydroxyl radical-like reactivity, and it directly oxidizes proteins and other macromolecules with resultant carbonyl formation from side-chain and peptide-bond cleavage.
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CGRP, which stands for calcitonin gene-related peptide neurotransmitter, has long been thought to play a role in migraines, but for much of that time for the wrong reason.
Its causes have long been unknown, but increasing circumstantial evidence points to a toxic protein called amyloid peptide, which builds up into plaques and slowly chokes off brain cells.
Using mice as subjects, the team found that the more lactate was present in certain areas (lactate is a product of neuronal activity), the more amyloid-beta peptide was also present.
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An even more unusual approach is being explored by Alan Fogelman and his team, who have genetically engineered a tomato to produce a small peptide, 6F, that mimics the action of apo A-1.
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Here is the recipe he and his team discovered: organic material, like grass clippings or agricultural waste, is mixed with a stabilizing peptide powder and from that protein is extracted from the materials, stabilized.
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