Proline rich-oligopeptides: diverse mechanisms for antihypertensive action.

Bradykinin-potentiating peptides from Bothrops jararaca (Bj) discovered in the early 1960s, were the first natural inhibitors of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE). These peptides belong to a large family of snake venom proline-rich oligopeptides (PROs). One of these peptides, Bj-PRO-9a, was essential for defining ACE as effective drug target and development of captopril, an active site-directed inhibitor of ACE used worldwide for the treatment of human arterial hypertension.