Alexia Belavgeni, Francesca Maremonti, Wulf Tonnus, Marlena Stadtmüller, Shubhangi Gavali, Melodie Mallais, Karolin Flade, Anne Brucker, Jorunn Naila Becker, Kristina Beer, Mirela Tmava, Julian Stumpf, Florian Gembardt, Christian Hugo, Mauro Giacca, Benjamin G Hale, Nikolaos Perakakis, Wei Sha, Derek A Pratt, Andrew V Schally, Stefan R Bornstein, Andreas Linkermann
Iridoviridae, such as the lymphocystis disease virus-1 (LCDV-1) and other viruses, encode viral insulin-like peptides (VILPs) which are capable of triggering insulin receptors (IRs) and insulin-like growth factor receptors. The homology of VILPs includes highly conserved disulfide bridges. However, the binding affinities to IRs were reported to be 200- to 500-fold less effective compared to the endogenous ligands. We therefore speculated that these peptides also have noninsulin functions. Here, we report that the LCDV-1 VILP can function as a potent and highly specific inhibitor of ferroptosis...
May 23, 2023: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America