The invention relates to cyclic peptide agonists that bind to the mu (morphine) opioid receptor and their use in the treatment of acute and/or chronic pain. Embodiments of the invention are directed to cyclic pentapeptide and hexapeptide analogs of endomorphin that have (i) a carboxy-terminal extension with an amidated hydrophilic amino acid and (ii) a substitution in amino acid position 2, and in some embodiments, a 2′,6′-dimethyltyrosine (Dmt) residue in place of the N-terminal tyrosine residue a position 1. These peptide analogs exhibit increased solubility compared to similar tetrapeptide analogs while maintaining favorable or improved therapeutic ratios of analgesia to side effects.

Disclosed are peptide and peptidomimetic compounds generally according to formula (I) that are useful as GHRP analogs:

R.sup.1-A.sup.1-A.sup.2-A.sup.3-A.sup.4-A.sup.5-R.sup.2   (I)

wherein: A.sup.1 is Aib, Apc or Inp; A.sup.2 is D-Bal, D-Bip, D-Bpa, D-Dip, D-1Nal, D-2Nal, D-Ser(Bzl), or D-Trp; A.sup.3 is D-Bal, D-Bip, D-Bpa, D-Dip, D-1Nal, D-2Nal, D-Ser(Bzl), or D-Trp; A.sup.4 is 2Fua, Orn, 2Pal, 3Pal, 4Pal, Pff, Phe, Pim, Taz, 2Thi, 3Thi, Thr(Bzl); A.sup.5 is Apc, Dab, Dap, Lys, Orn, or deleted; R.sup.1 is hydrogen, (C1-6)alkyl, (C5-14)aryl, (C1-6)alkyl(C5-14)aryl, (C3-8)cycloakyl, or (C2-10)acyl; and R.sup.2 is OH or NH.sub.2;
and pharmaceutical compositions and methods of use thereof.

The present invention is related to the use of HMGB1 antagonists in the treatment and/or prevention and/or inhibition of acute lung injury in mammals, e.g., humans, and pharmaceutical compositions for the same comprising HMGB1 antagonists, in particular K883, in an effective amount to treat and/or prevent and/or inhibit this condition.

The present invention relates to a peptide with amidated carboxy terminus having melanogenesis inhibitory activity and a composition comprising same, and more specifically, to a peptide with amidated (—NH.sub.2) carboxy terminus, composed of one amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 5, SEQ ID NO: 9 to 18, and a pharmaceutical composition, cosmetic composition, and food composition for the treatment of pigmentation diseases comprising same as an active ingredient.

The present invention addresses the problem of providing an inhibitor which has an excellent inhibitory activity on a p21-activated kinase. The present invention, by which has been solved the above-mentioned problem, is a p21-activated kinase 1 inhibitor containing, as an active ingredient, one or more compounds selected from the group consisting of dehydrokawain compounds, derivatives of dehydrokawain compounds, mimosine, derivatives of mimosine, and cucurbitacin compounds.

Racemization-free methods are disclosed for the synthesis of carfilzomib. Novel intermediates and methods of making carfilzomib employing fragment condensation using the novel intermediates are disclosed. Amorphous carfilzomib and methods of making same are disclosed.

The invention provides a method for treating one or more complications of diabetes in a mammal. The method comprises administering to a mammal in need thereof an effective amount of an aromatic-cationic peptide having at least one net positive charge; a minimum of four amino acids; a maximum of about twenty amino acids; a relationship between the minimum number of net positive charges (p.sub.m) and the total number of amino acid residues (r) wherein 3 p.sub.m is the largest number that is less than or equal to r+1; and a relationship between the minimum number of aromatic groups (a) and the total number of net positive charges (p.sub.t) wherein 2a is the largest number that is less than or equal to p.sub.t+1, except that when a is 1, p.sub.t may also be 1.

Provided herein are DNA vaccines for the treatment of peanut allergies. The vaccines comprise the coding sequence for one or more peanut allergenic epitopes fused in-frame with the luminal domain of the lysosomal associated membrane protein (LAMP) and the targeting sequence of LAMP. The vaccines can be multivalent molecules and/or can be provided as part of a multivalent vaccine comprising two or more DNA constructs.

The present disclosure relates to ultrashort peptides capable of forming a gel, to a gel comprising a peptide in accordance with the present disclosure, and to a method of preparing such gel. Such gel is a hydrogel or an organogel. The peptides are suitable bioinks for a bioprinter to build 3D structures through 3D printing as well as other applications.

The invention provides compounds and methods, for example, to carry out organocatalytic Michael additions of aldehydes to cyclically constrained nitroethylene compounds catalyzed by a proline derivative to provide cyclically constrained α-substituted-γ-nitro-aldehydes. The reaction can be rendered enantioselective when a chiral pyrrolidine catalyst is used, allowing for Michael adducts in nearly optically pure form (e.g., 96 to >99% e.e.). The Michael adducts can bear a single substituent or dual substituents adjacent to the carbonyl. The Michael adducts can be efficiently converted to cyclically constrained protected γ-amino acid residues, which are essential for systematic conformational studies of γ-peptide foldamers. New methods are also provided to prepare other γ-amino acids and peptides. These new building blocks can be used to prepare foldamers, such as α/γ-peptide foldamers, that adopt specific helical conformations in solution and in the solid state.