Recent advances in rubiscolins engineering

What is it about?

Rubiscolins are two naturally occurring, linear peptides, isolated from the pepsin digests of D-ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCo) from spinach leaves. They have been shown to possess some interesting opioid-like activities. As δ-selective opioid peptides, they exerted central effects, such as antinociception, memory consolidation and anxiolytic-like activity. They also affected food intake stimulation (normal diet) or inhibition (high-fat diet) by different mechanisms.

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Why is it important?

While other opioid peptides are easily degraded by proteolytic enzymes, rubiscolins seem to be resistant. Rubiscolin-6 may be absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and cross the blood-brain barrier to activate the central opioid receptors, as well as it may activate the endogenous opioid system in the CNS through signal transduction from the peripheral nervous system, such as the vagal nerves. The fact that rubiscolins are potent even when given orally makes them very promising drug candidates.

Perspectives