Language As a Source of Novel Bioactive Peptides: Peptide SVENSKAAKADEMIEN

Most peptides have been discovered from natural sources or via combinatorial chemistry methods, but the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry’s one-letter symbolism for the names of amino acids facilitates the use of language as a novel source of potentially bioactive peptides. Any word, name, or phrase composed of 21 letters of the 26-letter English (or French, German, Spanish, or Swedish) alphabet can be viewed as not only a sequence of letters, but also as a sequence of unambiguous symbols for the names of amino acids (i.e., a peptide). Protein database searches reveal that is sometimes possible to find such name peptides within the larger sequences of known proteins, but most are novel. Peptides designed using this name-to-peptide method have been chemically synthesized, subjected to laboratory testing, and found to exhibit potentially useful biomedical properties. This article describes research in the new field of name peptides, including a theoretical analysis of a peptide based on the name of the Swedish Academy, the organization that selects recipients of the Nobel Prize in Literature.