PROTEINS, PROTEASE INHIBITING PEPTIDES AND DERIVATIVES THEREOF, MEDICINAL, NUTRACEUTICAL AND COSMECEUTICAL COMPOSITIONS BASED ON THESE COMPOUNDS, AND USES THEREOF FOR PREPARING FORMULATIONS FOR THE TREATMENT AND PREVENTION OF CANCER OR DISEASES INVOL

摘要

The present invention relates to the protease inhibiting protein named Black-eyed pea trypsin/chymotrypsin inhibitor (BTCI), peptides obtained from this structure and variants thereof which retain biological activity, and use thereof to prepare medicinal compositions aimed mainly at the prevention and/or treatment of neoplastic or pre-neoplastic lesions, such as cell disorders that occur during carcinogenic stages, and to treat pathological processes involving protease inhibition. The properties exhibited by the BTCI, the peptide fragments and bio-active variants thereof can also be utilised to prepare nutraceutical or cosmeceutical compositions, not only medicinal compositions. These compositions can be used, also as adjuvants, to prevent and/or treat carcinogenic processes and other pathological processes involving protease inhibition, both in humans and in veterinary medicine.