Design of Novel Cyclic Peptidomimetics – Melanocortin Peptides as An Example

This thesis describes the idea of cyclic peptide mimetic based drug design applying to the studies of a group of G-protein coupled receptors named melanocortin receptors. Highly potent and selective peptide ligands targeting different subclasses of melanocortin receptors have been discovered through this work, supporting their potential applications as therapeutic strategies for treating a wide variety of conditions including diabetes and skin melanoma.