Articles

Peptide drug names follow a formal WHO specification. What -tide, -glutide, -relin, -relix and -pressin actually mean, and the four things a stem deliberately does not tell you.

Protease-activated receptors are switched on by being cut, not by a hormone arriving. How tethered-ligand activation works, why antagonists are so hard, and what vorapaxar showed.

Adrenomedullin is a 52-amino-acid endothelial peptide that grades severity in sepsis and heart failure, and the target of an antibody deliberately designed not to neutralise it.

How phage display links a peptide to its own gene, why most screen hits are artifacts, and how mRNA display went on to produce the first oral peptide drug.

Gastrin-releasing peptide explained: the bombesin connection, its gene and receptors, the spinal itch pathway, ProGRP as a tumour marker, and what remains investigational.

Peptide aggregation and fibrillation explained: nucleation kinetics, why the lag phase misleads, what insulin taught the field, and what a cloudy vial can and cannot tell you.

Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy uses a somatostatin analogue as a delivery vehicle for a radioactive metal — here is how the three modules work, what NETTER-1 and NETTER-2 actually showed, and why the kidneys need protecting.

Biased agonism claims one receptor can be steered down a chosen signalling route — here is how bias factors are built, why the μ-opioid version of the claim collapsed, and what survives.

Kisspeptin explained: the KISS1 gene, the GPR54 receptor, KNDy neurons and the GnRH pulse generator, the IVF trigger trials, and the NK3 drugs the circuit produced instead.

Calcitonin explained: the 32-residue C-cell hormone, the CALCA gene it shares with CGRP, why deleting it increases bone mass, and what the cancer meta-analysis really showed.