ABSTRACT
Protein-protein interactions(PPI)with large and shallow interfaces are generally undruggable targets. Many PPI in-volved in vital biological processes are mediated by helixes,therefore PPI can be easily targeted by helical epitope mimics. However, the application of peptide was limited by its conformational flexibility and low stability until the significant work was done by Arora ,et al who applied nucleation and crosslinking strategies to lock peptides in helical conformation. The conformation-locked strategies helps to improve peptide stability,cell permeability,and afterwards target intracellular PPI. At present,the conformation-locked strategies of peptides have achieved great development,and have become a hot spot in peptide research field. In this paper,the recent develop-ment,centering nucleation strategies,applications and bright prospects of helical conformation-locked peptides,are reviewed in order to provide theoretical basis for drug design based on PPI.
ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of the combination therapy of biofeedback with electrical stimulation on chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) through clinical trials.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 140 cases of diagnosed CP/CPPS were randomly divided into a control group (n = 20), a biofeedback group (BF, n = 40), an electrical stimulation group (ES, n = 40), and a biofeedback plus electrical stimulation group (BF + ES, n = 40). The latter three groups were treated by corresponding methods 5 times a week for 2 weeks, while the controls left untreated. After the treatment, all the patients were followed up for 30 days. The NIH chronic prostatitis symptom index (NIH-CPSI) scores and the results of uroflowmetry were obtained and compared before and after the treatment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the control group, the scores on pain, urinary symptoms and quality of life (QOL) and the total NIH-CPSI scores were obviously decreased (P < 0.05), and the maximum flow rate (MFR) markedly improved (P < 0.05) in the BF, ES and BF + ES groups after the treatment, with significant differences between the former two and the latter one (P < 0.05), but not between the BF and ES groups (P > 0.05), nor in the control group before and after the treatment (P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The combination therapy of biofeedback with electrical stimulation has a synergistic effect on CP/CPPS by alleviating pain and urinary symptoms, improving QOL and elevating MFR.</p>