Researchers have discovered more than 120 peptides that can stop or slow the growth of new blood vessels, a process known as angiogenesis. The discovery could lead to new treatments for some of the 30-plus diseases in which angiogenesis is known to play a key role.

Aleksander Popel and Emmanouil Karagiannis, both from Johns Hopkins University School of  Medicine, have discovered more than 120 endogenous peptides by using a “systematic computational methodology based on bioinformatics” to identify candidate peptides and then conducting experiments on live cells to confirm that the peptides had anti-angiogenic properties. Prior to this research just 40 anti-angiogenesis peptides were known to exist.

Excessive blood vessel growth is known to play a key role in more than 30 diseases, including cancer, macular degeneration, and rheumatoid arthritis. It is hope that the discovery of these new anti-angiogenic peptides will lead to new treatments.

Karagiannis E, Popel A. A systematic methodology for proteome-wide identification of peptides inhibiting the proliferation and migration of endothelial cells. PNAS 2008;105:13775-13780.