Contact Info

Mamudu Ibrahim

Drug Quality and Registration (DruQuaR) group
Ottergemsesteenweg 460, 9000 Ghent (Belgium)

Phone: + 32 (0)9 264.81.01

E-mail: Mamudu.Ibrahim@ugent.be

PhD Research

Title: Exploring the biological relevance of prepro-neuroproteins derived peptides.

Summary:

Cryptic peptides are certain bioactive peptides found next to the main  neuropeptides during the cleavage process by prohormone convertases (PCs). Study of such cryptic peptides will contribute significantly towards the development of novel therapeutics for a wide range of diseases.

Our discovery and pharmacological characterization of the peptide NMG, as well as our initial screening of other prepro-NMS peptides on brain cells, strongly showed that prepro-NMS is a cryptic system. The main objective of this project is to further elucidate the biological significance of this prepro-NMS cryptic system. The initial in vitro metabolization studies of prepro-NMS and prepro-NMS 70-103, using HPLC-ESI / ion-trap MS, indicated that NMG is one of the metabolization products, suggesting its presence in vivo.  Hence, in the first part of this project, the in vivo concentrations as well as the physiological relevance of peptide NMG will be investigated. In the second part, other possible cryptides present in the prepro-NMS sequence will be explored and characterized using, among other things, sensitive bio-analytical methods.

Keywords: cryptic peptides, neuropeptide system