| abstract |
A biologically active peptide which includes the following structure: R1-R1-R1-R4-R1-R1-R2-R1-R1-R1-R1-R1-R1-R1a-R1-R1-R3-R2R2-R1a R1and R1a are hydrophobic amino acids, R2 is a basic hydrophilic amino acid, R3 is a neutral hydrophilic amino acid, and R4 is hydrophobic or basic hydrophilic amino acid. Preferably, R1a is cysteine. Examples of peptides have the following structural formulae: (SEQ ID NO:1); (SEQ ID NO:2); (SEQ ID NO:3); (SEQ ID NO:4); (SEQ ID NO:5); and (SEQ ID NO:6). The peptide may be employed in a pharmaceutical composition. |