In this episode of Exploration Science, Professor David Craik talks about the discovery of the cyclotides and their potential to transform medicine and agriculture.

References and links:

Database of Cyclic Proteins https://www.cybase.org.au/

Biosynthesis and insecticidal properties of plant cyclotides: The cyclic knotted proteins from Oldenlandia affinis https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.191366898)

Trends in Cyclotide Research https://doi.org/10.1039/9781788010153-00302)

Discovery, structure, function, and applications of cyclotides: circular proteins from plants https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erw210)

T20K: An Immunomodulatory Cyclotide on Its Way to the Clinic https://doi.org/10.1007/s10989-018-9701-1

Synthesis of Proteins by Native Chemical Ligation https://doi.org/10.1126/science.7973629

Elucidation of the Primary and Three-Dimensional Structure of the Uterotonic Polypeptide Kalata B1 https://doi.org/10.1021/bi00013a002

Plant cyclotides: A unique family of cyclic and knotted proteins that defines the cyclic cystine knot structural motif https://doi.org/10.1006/jmbi.1999.3383

Evaluation of the in Vivo Aphrodisiac Activity of a Cyclotide Extract from Hybanthus enneaspermus https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jnatprod.0c01045)

Anthelmintic activity of cyclotides: In vitro studies with canine and human hookworms https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actatropica.2008.11.003

The Engineering of an Orally Active Conotoxin for the Treatment of Neuropathic Pain https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201000620)

Racemic and Quasi-Racemic X-ray Structures of Cyclic Disulfide-Rich Peptide Drug Scaffolds https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201406563

Is the Mirror Image a True Reflection? Intrinsic Membrane Chirality Modulates Peptide Binding https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.9b11194

Cyclotides: From Structure to Function https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.9b00402)

Discovery of Cyclotides from Australasian Plants https://doi.org/10.1071/CH19658)