Plant cystine-knot peptides: pharmacological perspectives.

The cystine-knot peptides are well represented in several plant species. The pharmacological interest for plant cystine-knot peptides derived from their broad biological activities. The mechanisms of action of plant cystine-knot peptides are still largely undiscovered, although eveidences indicate that they interfere with plasma membranes. In some cases, as tomato TCMPs, the cystine-knot peptides target human growth factor receptors either by acting as growth factor antagonist or by altering their signal transduction pathway. The possibility to identify specific molecular targets of plant cystine-knot peptides in human cells opens novel possibilities for the pharmacological use of these peptides besides their use as scaffold to develop stable disease molecular markers and therapeutic agents