Discovery and Characterization of Novel Bioactive Peptides and a Natural ERRalpha Ligand

Abstract

Metabolites and peptides have a central role in biology that is often overlooked. Despite the importance of metabolites in key protein-metabolite interactions (PMIs), the extent and identity of these interactions is not known. Likewise, the extent to which short open reading frames (sORFs) in the genome are translated into peptides has also been an elusive question. This dissertation describes the development and application of methods to elucidate unknown molecules and interactions critical to understanding biology, and the subsequent characterization of the biological roles of these discoveries in cells and mice.