Discovery of natural compounds that could slow blood ves...(al activity. Of the 82 proteins we ident...)

To test the activity of these candidate peptides, the researchers applied them to blood vessel cells growing in the lab and examined whether they had any effect on the growth, survival and movement of these cells. To test growth and survival, they added different amounts of peptide to dishes containing roughly 2,000 cells and after three days, counted how many cells were still alive.

To test cell movement, they placed cells in double-chambered dishes and treated the cells with a growth factor known to encourage cells to move. To some of the dishes they added the test peptides. After 20 hours, they measured the number of cells that had crawled from one chamber to the other. They then identified the protein receptors that the peptides bind to and were able to show in some cases that combinations of more than one peptide were better able to stop the cells than using single peptides.

"Basic, computational studies like this are critical to understanding normal blood vessel growth," says Popel. "A better understanding of normal growth gives us a better idea of what happens in disease."

The next step, Popel says, is to test these peptides in animal models of human disease and to identify the diseases most appropriately treated by these newly identified peptide inhibitors.

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