Successful identification of novel agents to control infectious diseases from screening mixture-based peptide combinatorial libraries in complex cell-based bioassays.

Mixture-based peptide synthetic combinatorial libraries (SCLs) represent a valuable source for the development of novel agents to control infectious diseases. Indeed, a number of studies have now proven the ability of identifying active peptides from libraries composed of thousands to millions of peptides in cell-based biosystems of varying complexity. Furthermore, progressing knowledge on the importance of endogenous peptides in various immune responses lead to a regain in importance for peptides as potential therapeutic agents. This article is aimed at providing recent studies in our laboratory for the development of antimicrobial or antiviral peptides derived from mixture-based SCLs using cell-based assays, as well as a short review of the importance of such peptides in the control of infectious diseases. Furthermore, the use of positional scanning (PS) SCL-based biometrical analyses for the identification of native optimal epitopes specific to HIV-1 proteins is also presented. Copyright 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.