overview of purification, biological activities and therapeutic applications of thymosin alpha

ABSTRACT

Thymosin alpha 1 [T alpha 1] is 28 amino acid residues peptide. Thymic epithelial cells produce acetylated N-terminal T alpha 1 that has powerful immunostimulatory and antitumor activites. Inside the body T alpha 1 effects endocrine, immune and central nervous system. T alpha 1 can be purified by using fractionation procedures from thymus. Many recombinant DNA techniques are being used for the production of T alpha 1. In addition T alpha 1 is being expressed as fusion proteins with other therapeutically important proteins. For the high-throughput production of T alpha 1, different expression systems are being used such as E.coli and yeast. T alpha 1 has unique antitumor and immunoregulatory properties and also have capacity to protect cells from oxidative damage. T alpha 1 has many therapeutic applications specifically against many infectious diseases [hepatitis B and C, AIDS, SARS etc.] and cancer