RESUMO

Proline-rich peptides from Bothrops jararaca venom (Bj-PRO) were characterized based on the capability to inhibit the somatic angiotensin-converting enzyme. The pharmacologicalaction of these peptides resulted in the development of Captopril, one of thebest examples of a target-driven drug discovery for treatment of hypertension. However, biochemical and biological properties of Bj-PROs were not completely elucidated yet, and many recent studies have suggested that their activity relies on angiotensinconvertingenzyme-independent mechanisms. Here, we show that Bj-PRO-7a (

Assuntos

Bothrops/fisiologia , Hipertensão/terapia , Inibidores da Enzima Conversora de Angiotensina/análise , Agonistas Muscarínicos/análise , Agonistas Muscarínicos/uso terapêutico , Células CHO/ultraestrutura , Microscopia Confocal/métodos , Prolina/análogos & derivados