As peptide new drugs like Wegovy gain attention, the demand for effective peptide therapies based on natural products is rapidly increasing. In particular, 'peptide metabolites' generated from the breakdown of natural proteins in the body are gaining attention as multifunctional new drug candidates.
A research team led by Chief Researcher Hyungseob Han from the Biomaterials Research Center and Senior Researcher Daegun Song from the Natural Products Systems Biology Research Center at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), along with Research Expert Woosung Kwon from the Doping Control Center, announced on the 17th that they developed a therapeutic agent based on peptides derived from natural products that possess both antiviral and tissue regeneration functions.
The research team confirmed that the peptide metabolite produced from the degradation of the protein thymosin β4, which exists in our body, can induce antiviral effects and tissue regeneration simultaneously. This metabolite inhibited the activity of key protein-degrading enzymes of the coronavirus by over 85%. It also demonstrated effects such as cell growth, wound healing, vascular generation, and harmful oxygen removal in experiments using human vascular cells.
This study proves that a single peptide can perform both antiviral treatment and tissue regeneration simultaneously, which is expected to overcome the limitations of existing protein therapeutics. The research team plans to conduct research for the practical application of customized therapeutics utilizing peptide metabolites and biomaterials for tissue regeneration.
Chief Researcher Hyungseob Han noted, "This study serves as an example of how protein metabolites can be utilized not only as new drugs but also as bio materials for tissue regeneration, confirming the potential for expansion into various biomedical applications in the future."
The results of this study were published in the international journal Bioactive Materials in March.
References
Bioactive Materials (2025), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioactmat.2025.02.008