Molecular mimics of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) for inhibiting IGF-1: IGF-binding protein interactions

New peptides that are not related to insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) but can bind with IGF-binding proteins (IGFBP) and can replace IGF-1 from IGFBP-1 complexes in vitro have been identified. One of the peptides has a well-developed turn-helix structure which can be used in synthesizing small molecule mimetics. The peptide also contains the IGF-1 region that is involved in IGFBP binding but has side chains that are unlike those of the IGF-1 helix I.