Patent Description:
Recently, consumers' needs for cosmetics have been gradually changed from requesting uses for decorating themselves beautifully to requesting functional uses of the cosmetics due to an increase in interest for healthy life, improvement of the standard of living, an increase in the entry of women in public affairs, the acceleration of aging, etc..

Research activities intended for developing bioactive substances having a wrinkle amelioration effect has consistently progressed to prevent skin aging phenomenon and maintain more healthy and elastic skin. Typically, tretinoin (trans-retinoic acid) as a therapeutic agent for improving photoaged skin received United States FDA permission in <NUM>, and wrinkle ameliorating cosmetics have been started to be marketed in earnest while retinol having less side effects than tretinoin has been used in raw materials for cosmetic products from the middle and late <NUM>. Thereafter, female hormone-like substances, antioxidants extracted from various plants, etc. as wrinkle ameliorating raw materials have been introduced into cosmetics.

However, most of such raw materials for cosmetic products have been had various problems including inept efficacy, causing of skin side effects, etc. Further, the present raw materials for cosmetic products have not been able to sufficiently satisfy needs of consumers wanting newer, stronger and more fundamental amelioration of wrinkles since the present raw materials for cosmetic products have limited application ranges to the skin, and most of the present raw materials for cosmetic products are similar in efficacies on the skin such as promotion of collagen synthesis, inhibition of collagen decomposition, and removal of active oxygen although present raw materials for cosmetic products are raw materials with good efficacies. Accordingly, researches on raw materials and technologies which are capable of establishing new skin aging mechanisms, and blocking or delaying skin aging based on recent dermatological theories have been actively progressed in cosmetic industries.

Recently, a study of ameliorating skin wrinkles by using a peptide component in cosmetics has been actively proceeded. Peptides, as material formed by coupling two or more amino acids, are produced by chemical synthesis, enzyme reaction, or hydrolysis from protein.

On the other hand, acetylcholine is involved in movements of skeletal muscles and visceral muscle in the peripheral nervous system, and has an effect on learning and memory in the brain. When secretion of acetylcholine, i.e., neurotransmitter is hindered at places where a motor nerve and muscles meet, acetylcholine inhibits contraction of the muscles such that wrinkles are spread while the muscles are being paralyzed. Botox corresponds to an example using this. Botox blocks a process of secreting acetylcholine, i.e., material that is essential in contraction of the muscles at a motor nerve terminal. As a result, the muscles cannot be moved, and wrinkles caused by the muscles are removed.

Therefore, if peptides of inhibiting secretion of acetylcholine are developed by the same principle, it is predicted that amelioration and prevention of skin wrinkles can be expected.

[Prior art document] <NPL>, discloses [alpha]-Conotoxin Dendrimers Have Enhanced Potency and Selectivity for Homomeric Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors.

(Patent document <NUM>) <CIT>. <CIT> discloses a bipodal peptide binder. <CIT> discloses peptide inhibitors of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor.

The purpose of the present disclosure is to provide peptides which suppress secretion of acetylcholine by binding the peptides to an acetylcholine receptor.

To achieve the purpose, an acetylcholine receptor-binding peptide consisting of any one sequence among amino acid sequences represented by the following sequence numbers <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM>:.

The term in the present disclosure, "peptides or fragments thereof, means a polymer comprised of two or more amino acids connected by an amide bond (or peptide bond). For the purpose of the present disclosure, the peptides or the fragments thereof means peptides which exhibit a wrinkle amelioration effect or fragments thereof.

Peptides or fragments thereof of the present disclosure may be obtained by various methods well known in the art. Specifically, peptides or fragments thereof of the present disclosure may be produced by using genetic recombination or protein expression system, or may be produced by a method of synthesizing the peptides or the fragment thereof in vitro through chemical synthesis such as peptide synthesis, and a cell-free protein synthesis method.

More specifically, although the peptides or the fragment thereof not only may be synthesized by a method well known in the art, e.g., an automatic peptide synthesizer, but also may be produced by genetic engineering technology, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, desired peptides can be produced by cutting and separating peptides according to the present disclosure from the fusion protein by using protease or a compound after preparing a fusion gene which encodes a fusion protein formed of a fusion partner and peptides according to the present disclosure through gene manipulation, transforming the fusion gene into a host microbe, and expressing the host microbe in the form of a fusion protein. To this end, for instance, a DNA sequence encoding amino acid residues which can be cut by protease such as Factor Xa or enterokinase and a compound such as CNBr or hydroxylamine may be inserted between the fusion partner and a peptide gene of the present disclosure.

In peptides which suppress secretion of acetylcholine by binding the peptides to an acetylcholine receptor of the present disclosure, the Xn may have any one amino acid sequence among the following sequence numbers <NUM>, <NUM> or <NUM>:.

In peptides which suppress secretion of acetylcholine by binding the peptides to an acetylcholine receptor of the present disclosure, the peptides may consist of any one amino acid sequence among the following sequence numbers <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM>:.

In peptides which suppress secretion of acetylcholine by binding the peptides to an acetylcholine receptor of the present disclosure, the acetylcholine receptor-binding peptide consists of any one sequence among amino acid sequences represented by the following sequence numbers <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM>. The amino acid sequences represented by the following sequence numbers <NUM> to <NUM> are structures in which some of amino acid sequences represented by the sequence numbers <NUM> to <NUM> bear fruit for optimization:.

A method of screening an acetylcholine receptor-binding peptide according to another aspect of the present disclosure is provided. The method comprises the steps of:.

In a method of selecting peptides which suppress secretion of acetylcholine by binding the peptides to an acetylcholine receptor of the present disclosure, the peptide library in the step (<NUM>) of preparing a recombinant phage by inserting the peptide library into a vector after preparing a peptide library may be prepared by using a DNA library comprised of any one base sequence among the sequence numbers <NUM>, <NUM>, or <NUM>.

Furthermore, the present disclosure provides a polynucleotide encoding peptides according to the present disclosure. Further, as long as a polynucleotide comprising base sequences showing homology with the base sequence can encode peptides in accordance with claim <NUM> which are capable of showing a bonding activity with respect to the biostructure, the polynucleotide can be also included in a category of the polynucleotide provided in the present disclosure, wherein the polynucleotide may become a polynucleotide comprising base sequences showing preferably <NUM>% or more of homology, more preferably <NUM>% or more of homology, or most preferably <NUM>% or more of homology.

Furthermore, a cosmetic composition for wrinkle amelioration comprising peptides according to the present disclosure as an active ingredient according to another aspect of the present disclosure is provided.

Furthermore, a pharmaceutical composition for wrinkle amelioration comprising the above-mentioned peptides as an active ingredient according to another aspect of the present disclosure is provided.

A pharmaceutical composition for wrinkle amelioration of the present disclosure may comprise peptides according to the present disclosure or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof alone, or may further comprise one or more pharmaceutically acceptable carriers, excipients or diluents thereof.

In the present disclosure, the term "pharmaceutically acceptable" means that the salts, carriers, excipients or diluents of the peptides are contained in the pharmaceutical composition in such sufficient amount extents that can exhibit a treatment effect, do not cause side effects, and may be easily determined by a person of ordinary skill in the art according to elements well-known to the medical field including types of diseases, age, weight, health and gender of a patient, sensitivity of the patient to drug, administration route, administration method, administration frequency, treatment period, mixing, a drug simultaneously used, etc..

For example, the pharmaceutically acceptable carriers may further comprise carriers for oral administration or carriers for non-oral administration.

The carriers for oral administration may include lactose, starch, cellulose derivatives, magnesium, stearate, stearic acid, etc. Further, the carriers for non-oral administration may include water, suitable oil, a saline solution, water-based glucose, glycol, etc., and may additionally include a stabilizer and a preservative. A suitable stabilizer may include an antioxidant such as sodium bisulfite, sodium sulfite or ascorbic acid. A suitable preservative may include benzalkonium chloride, methyl- or propyl-paraben, or chlorobutanol. Carriers described in the following document may be referred to as other pharmaceutically acceptable carriers (<NPL>).

A pharmaceutical composition for wrinkle amelioration of the present disclosure can be administered to mammals including human by any method. For example, a pharmaceutical composition for wrinkle amelioration of the present disclosure can be administered by oral administration or non-oral administration. Although the present disclosure is not limited thereto, the non-oral administration may be intravenous administration, intramuscular medication, intraarterial administration, intramedullary administration, intrathecal administration, intraperitoneal administration, dermal administration, subcutaneous administration, intraperitoneal administration, intranasal administration, intestinal administration, topical administration, sublingual administration, or intrarectal administration. Preferably, a pharmaceutical composition according to the present disclosure can be dermally administered. The 'dermal administration' in the above description indicates that an active ingredient contained in the composition according to the present disclosure is enabled to be transferred into the skin by administering a pharmaceutical composition according to the present disclosure into cells or skin. For example, a pharmaceutical composition according to the present disclosure is prepared into an injection type formulation such that a pharmaceutical composition according to the present disclosure may be administered by a method of lightly pricking the injection type formulation into the skin with a <NUM>-gauge thin injection needle or a method of directly applying the injection type formulation to the skin.

A pharmaceutical composition according to the present disclosure may be formulated into a preparation for oral administration or a preparation for non-oral administration along the above-described administration routes.

In case of the preparation for oral administration, the composition according to the present disclosure can be formulated into powder, granule, tablet, pill, sugar-coated table, capsule, liquid, gel, syrup, slurry, suspension, etc. by methods known in the art. For example, the preparation for oral administration may include tablet or sugar-coated tablet which are obtained by mixing an active ingredient with a solid excipient, pulverizing a mixture of the active ingredient and the solid excipient, adding a suitable supplemental agent to a pulverized material, and processing a supplemental agent-added pulverized material into a granule mixture. Examples of a suitable excipient may comprise saccharides including lactose, dextrose, sucrose, sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, erythritol, maltitol, etc., starches including corn starch, wheat starch, rice starch, potato starch, etc., celluloses including cellulose, methyl cellulose, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, etc., and fillers including gelatin, polyvinylpyrrolidone, etc. Further, in some cases, crosslinked polyvinylpyrrolidone, agar, alginic acid, sodium alginate, or the like may be added as a disintegrating agent.

The preparation for non-oral administration can be formulated in the form of injection, cream, lotion, ointment for external application, oil, moisturizer, gel, aerosol, and nasal inhaler by methods known in the art. All of these formulations are described in a document, i.e., a prescription generally known in the pharmaceutical field (<NPL>).

Total therapeutically effective amount of peptides according to the present disclosure may be administered to patients with single dose or multiple dose of fractionated treatment protocol. An active ingredient included in a pharmaceutical composition according to the present disclosure may vary according to the severity of a disease.

Hereinafter, the present disclosure will be described in more detail through Examples. It will be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art that these examples are illustrative purposes only and are not to be construed to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

In order to prepare random peptide libraries (WTWKG(X)n, X=random amino acids, n = <NUM> to <NUM>), DNA libraries 4mer (TTCTATGCGGCCCAGCTGGCCTGGACATGGAAGGGANNKNNKNNKNNKGCGGC CGCAGAAACTGTT), 5mer (TTCTATGCGGCCCAGCTGGCCTGGACATGGAAGGGANNKNNKNNKNKKNNKGC GGCCGCAGAAACTGTT), and 6mer (TTCTATGCGGCCCAGCTGGCCTGGACATGGAAGGGANNKNNKNNKNNKNKKNN KGCGGCCGCAGAAACTGTT) were synthesized (Bioneer, Daejeon, Korea).

Double strand insert was amplified by using PCR as two single strand primers (TTCTATGCGGCCCAG and AACAGTTTCTGCGGC). Preparation results of random peptide DNA libraries are illustrated in <FIG>.

In order to insert the random peptide DNA libraries into a phagemid vector (pIGT), insert DNA amplified using the phagemid vector and PCR was treated with restriction enzymes.

After reacting about <NUM> µg of the insert DNA with SfiI (New England Biolab (NEB)), Ipswich) and NotI (NEB, Ipswich) for <NUM> hours, a purified DNA was obtained by using a PCR purification kit. Further, after treating about <NUM> µg of the phagemid vector with SfiI and NotI for <NUM> hours and injecting CIAP (Calf Intestinal Alkaline Phosphate) (NEB, Ipswich) into the phagemid vector treated with SfiI and NotI to react CIAP with the phagemid vector treated with SfiI and NotI, a reaction product was purified by using the PCR purification kit. Purification results are illustrated in <FIG>, and <NUM> × <NUM><NUM> of <NUM> mer peptide library DNAs, <NUM> × <NUM><NUM> of <NUM> mer peptide library DNAs and <NUM> × <NUM><NUM> of <NUM> mer peptide library DNAs were respectively prepared.

After connecting an insert DNA (<NUM> µg) to a phagemid vector (<NUM> µg) at <NUM> for <NUM> hours by using a T4 DNA ligase (Bioneer, Daejeon, Korea), the DNAs were dissolved in <NUM> µℓ of a TE buffer by precipitating the phagemid vector connected to the T4 DNA ligase with ethanol.

After dividing <NUM> µℓ of a phagemid vector including the respective <NUM> mer, <NUM> mer and <NUM> mer random insert DNAs that had been prepared in the Example <NUM> into <NUM> phagemid vectors each having <NUM> µℓ, an electroporation process was performed on the <NUM> phagemid vectors each having <NUM> µℓ.

More specifically, after melting a competent cell on ice, mixing <NUM> µℓ of the competent cell with each of <NUM> µℓ of phagemid vector solutions including the insert DNAs, and injecting the mixed solutions into a <NUM> cuvette that had been cooled and prepared, the resulting materials were put on ice for <NUM> minute.

After programming an electroporator (BioRAD, Hercules, CA) under conditions of <NUM>µP and <NUM> kV at <NUM>Ω, removing water of the prepared cuvette, and positioning the cuvette in the electric perforator, a pulse was applied to the electroporator (time costant was <NUM> to <NUM> msec). Then, after immediately inserting the electroporated materials into a LB (Luria Bertani) liquid culture medium including <NUM> of glucose that had been prepared at <NUM> to obtain cells with the total amount of <NUM>, the obtained cells with the total amount of <NUM> were moved to <NUM> test tubes. After culturing the cells while mixing the cells by a speed of <NUM> rpm at <NUM> for one hour, dividing the cultured cells into <NUM> µℓ of the cultured cells, and diluting <NUM> µℓ of the divided cultured cells, <NUM> µℓ of the diluted cultured cells was spread on an ampicillin agar medium to measure the number of libraries. After injecting cells remained after performing the dividing process along with <NUM> of glucose and <NUM> µg /ml of ampicillin into <NUM> of LB, the cells were cultured at <NUM> for one day. After centrifuging the culture solution to a speed of <NUM>,<NUM> rpm at <NUM> for <NUM> minutes to remove a supernatant except settled cells from the centrifuged culture solution, re-suspending the supernatant-removed centrifuged culture solution with <NUM> of LB, and injecting glycerol with a final concentration of <NUM>% or more into the re-suspension, the glycerol-inj ected re-suspension was stored at -<NUM>.

Recombinant phages were produced from <NUM> mer, <NUM> mer and <NUM> mer random peptide libraries stored at -<NUM> in Example <NUM>.

After adding <NUM> of the libraries that had been stored at -<NUM> to <NUM> of an SB liquid culture medium, a culturing process was performed to obtain culture solutions by mixing the libraries with the SB liquid culture medium to a speed of <NUM> rpm at <NUM> for <NUM> minutes.

After injecting a helper phage (<NUM> pfu) and ampicillin (final concentration of <NUM> µg/ml) into the culture solutions, and a culturing process was performed again under the same conditions for <NUM> hour. Recombinant phages were produced by moving the culture solutions to <NUM> of an SB liquid culture medium including ampicillin (<NUM> µg/ml) and kanamycin (<NUM> µg/ml) and culturing mixed solutioned of the culture solutions and the SB liquid culture medium under the same conditions for <NUM> hours or more. After centrifuging the produced recombinant phages to a speed of <NUM>,<NUM> rpm at <NUM> for <NUM> minutes to obtain supernatants, mixing PEG/NaCl with the supernatants at a volume ratio (v/v) of <NUM>:<NUM>, leaving along the mixed solutions on ice for <NUM> hour, and centrifuging the mixed solutions to a speed of <NUM>,<NUM> rpm at <NUM> for <NUM> minutes to carefully remove the supernatants, pellets were resuspended in the supernatant-removed centrifuged solutions with <NUM> of PBS (phosphate buffered saline).

After putting acetylcholine receptor (AchR) alpha <NUM> (<NUM> µg/ml) into <NUM> wells of <NUM> well high binding plates in an amount as much as <NUM> µℓ, leaving alone the acetylcholine receptor (AchR) alpha <NUM> put into the <NUM> wells at <NUM> overnight, washing the acetylcholine receptor (AchR) alpha <NUM> put into the <NUM> wells with <NUM> µℓ of PBS once the next day, putting <NUM> µℓ of <NUM>% BSA (Bovine Serum Albumin) into the acetylcholine receptor (AchR) alpha <NUM> washed with PBS to obtain a mixture, blocking the mixture at room temperature for <NUM> hours, and removing all solution from the mixture, a resulting material was washed with <NUM> µℓ of PBS three times.

After mixing the washed resulting material with <NUM> µℓ of a solution including the <NUM> mer, <NUM> mer and <NUM> mer random peptide recombinant phages each prepared in Example <NUM> and <NUM> µℓ of <NUM>% BSA to obtain a mixture, putting the mixture into <NUM> wells in an amount of <NUM> µℓ per well, the mixture put into the wells was left alone at room temperature for <NUM> hour, removing all solution from the mixture in the <NUM> wells, washing the solution-removed mixture with <NUM>% PBST (tween-<NUM>) three times, putting <NUM> glycine (pH <NUM>) into the washed mixture in an amount of <NUM> µℓ per well to elute the phages for <NUM> minutes, and collecting the eluted phages in <NUM> µℓ of an E-tube, <NUM> µℓ of <NUM> Tris (pH <NUM>) was put into the eluted phages collected in the E-tube to obtain a neutralized material.

In order to measure the number of input phages and the number of output phages per each of biopannings, after mixing the neutralized material with E. coli with OD=<NUM>, the mixture was spread on an agar culture medium including ampicillin. In order to repeatedly perform a panning process, after mixing <NUM> µℓ of the output phages with <NUM> of E. coli to a rotation speed of <NUM> rpm at <NUM> for <NUM> minutes, and culturing the output phages mixed with E. coli to obtain a culture medium, a culturing process was performed in the same manner for <NUM> minutes by adding ampicillin (<NUM> µg/ml) and helper phage (<NUM> × <NUM><NUM> pfu) to the culture medium. Then, after moving a culture solution to <NUM> of an SB culture medium including ampicillin (<NUM> µg/ml) and kanamycin (<NUM> µg/ml), the culturing process was performed in the same manner for <NUM> day to obtain a culture solution. After centrifuging the culture solution to a speed of <NUM>,<NUM> rpm at <NUM> for <NUM> minutes and adding PEG/NaCl [<NUM>% PEG(w/v) and <NUM>% NaCl(w/v)] to a supernatant of the centrifuged culture solution at a ratio of <NUM>:<NUM>, the mixed solution was settled on ice for <NUM> hour. After centrifuging the settled solution to a speed of <NUM>,<NUM> rpm at <NUM> for <NUM> minutes, completely removing a supernatant from the centrifuged solution, and suspending phage pellets with <NUM> of a PBS solution to obtain a suspension, the suspension was used in a second biopanning process. The same method was used in each panning step as described above, the washing processes were performed <NUM> times, <NUM> times, <NUM> times and <NUM> times respectively, and conditions at which the process of biopanning <NUM> mer libraries (S6) was performed over <NUM> times with respect to an acetylcholine receptor protein and results of the input phages and the output phages are shown in the following Table <NUM>.

ELISA of respective input phages of the above-mentioned libraries was performed on streptavidin and acetylcholine receptor (AchR).

After putting <NUM> µg/ml of the acetylcholine receptor into <NUM> well ELISA plates and putting streptavidins into <NUM> wells in an amount of <NUM> µℓ per well, the acetylcholine receptor put into the <NUM> well ELISA plates and streptavidins put into the <NUM> wells were left alone at <NUM> for <NUM> day. Then, after washing all wells with <NUM>% PBST three times, blocking the washed wells at room temperature for <NUM> hours by using <NUM>% BSA diluted by PBS, and removing all of solution from a blocked material, the solution-removed material was washed with <NUM>% PBST three times.

After mixing <NUM> µℓ of third (<NUM>rd S6), fourth (<NUM>th S6) and fifth (<NUM>th S6) input phages, i.e., recombinant phages in Table <NUM> with <NUM> µℓ of <NUM>% BSA to obtain mixtures and dividing <NUM> wells of the mixtures into acetylcholine receptor and streptavidin well in an amount of <NUM> µℓ, the resulting materials were settled at <NUM> for <NUM> hour. After washing the settled materials with a <NUM>% PBST solution three times and diluting HRP-conjugate anti-M13 antibody (GE Healthcare) to <NUM>: <NUM>,<NUM> to obtain a diluted solution, and the washed materials were reacted with the diluted solution at <NUM> for <NUM> hour. After washing reaction products with <NUM>% PBST three times and dividing <NUM> µℓ of a solution of tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) (BD Science), i.e., a substrate of peroxidase into the washed reaction products to induce a chromogenic reaction, the reaction was stopped by adding <NUM> µℓ of <NUM> HCl to the chromogenic reaction-induced materials. Thereafter, absorbance values of the resulting materials were measured at <NUM>. Results of measuring the absorbance values are illustrated in <FIG>.

After inoculating fourth (<NUM>th S6) and fifth (<NUM>th S6) output phages in Table <NUM> into E. coli, the fourth (<NUM>th S6) and fifth (<NUM>th S6) output phages inoculated into E. coli were spread to obtain about <NUM> to <NUM> plaques per plate. After inoculating <NUM> plaques into <NUM> of an SB-ampicillin (<NUM> µg/ml) culture solution using a sterilized tip, performing a process of shake-culturing the plaque-inoculated culture solutions at <NUM> for <NUM> hours, and adding <NUM> µℓ of a helper phage to the shake-cultured solutions, the mixed solutions were cultured to a speed of <NUM> rpm at <NUM> for <NUM> day to obtain culture solutions. After centrifuging the culture solutions to a speed of <NUM>,<NUM> rpm for <NUM> minutes to recover supernatants from the centrifuged culture solutions, and putting <NUM>% BSA into the recovered supernatants, the supernatants having the <NUM>% BSA put thereinto were used for searching the phages.

After putting <NUM> µg/ml of the acetylcholine receptor into the <NUM> well ELISA plates and putting streptavidins into <NUM> wells in an amount of <NUM> µℓ per well, the acetylcholine receptor put into the <NUM> well ELISA plates and streptavidins put into the <NUM> wells were left alone at <NUM> for <NUM> day. On the next day, after removing proteins of all wells, blocking the removed proteins at room temperature for <NUM> hours by using <NUM>% BSA, and throwing away solutions from the blocked proteins, resulting materials were washed with <NUM>% PBST. After dividing phage solutions amplified per each of clones into all wells in an amount of <NUM> µℓ, the divided phage solutions were settled at <NUM> for <NUM> hour. After washing the settled materials with a <NUM>% PBST solution three times, diluting HRP-conjugate anti-M13 antibody (GE Healthcare) to <NUM>:<NUM>,<NUM> to obtain a diluted solution, and dividing the washed materials into the diluted solution in an amount of <NUM> µℓ, the washed materials were reacted with the diluted solution at <NUM> for <NUM> hour. After washing reaction products with <NUM>% PBST three times and dividing <NUM> µℓ of the TMB solution into the washed reaction products to induce a chromogenic reaction, the reaction was stopped by adding <NUM> µℓ of <NUM> H<NUM>SO<NUM> to the chromogenic reaction-induced materials. Thereafter, results are illustrated in <FIG>.

Referring to <FIG>, sequencing was requested by purifying plasmids of phages having <NUM> time or more of an acetylcholine receptor signal compared to streptavidin (Bioneer, Deajon, Korea). GATTACGCCAAGCTTTGGAGC was used as a sequencing primer.

Peptide sequences having specific binding abilities in the acetylcholine receptor through sequencing are shown <FIG> and the following Table <NUM>. Herein, peptide sequences S6_1, S6_2 and S6_4 are within the scope of the claims, while the other peptide sequences in table <NUM> are outside the scope of the claims.

S6_1 (WTWKGKGTLNR), S6_2 (WTWKGRKSLLR), S6_3 (WTWKGEDKGKN), S6_4 (WTWKGRDKLQM) showing sequence similarities through multiple alignments among the peptides in Table <NUM> were synthesized.

A surface plasmon resonance (SPR) experiment was progressed using a biosensor chip to compare binding forces for the acetylcholine receptors thereof (Biacore <NUM>, Biacore AB, Uppsala, Sweden). After fixing selected acetylcholine receptor proteins to a CM5 chip (Biacore) using EDC/NHS, association and dissociation were observed for up to <NUM> seconds. A binding force comparing experiment was carried out under observation conditions of a running buffer of <NUM> Tris (pH <NUM>), a speed of <NUM> µℓ/min, and a peptide concentration of <NUM> (S6_1, S6_2, S6_3, S6_4). Results of the binding force comparing experiment are shown in <FIG>.

A surface plasmon resonance (SPR) experiment was progressed using a biosensor chip to compare binding forces for acetylcholine receptors of S6_1(WTWKGKGTLNR), i.e., discovered peptides and Sc_1_C6(KGTLNR (outside the scope of the claims)), i.e., a deleted form, and Synake and Vialox, i.e., a positive control group (Biacore <NUM>, Biacore AB, Uppsala, Sweden).

After fixing selected acetylcholine receptor proteins to a CM5 chip (Biacore) using EDC/NHS, association and dissociation were observed for up to <NUM> seconds. A binding force comparing experiment was carried out under observation conditions of a running buffer of <NUM> Tris (pH <NUM>), a speed of <NUM> µℓ/min, and a peptide concentration of <NUM> (Synake, Vialox, S6_1, S6_1_C6). Results of the binding force comparing experiment are shown in <FIG>.

A surface plasmon resonance (SPR) experiment was progressed using a biosensor chip to check affinity values for acetylcholine receptors of S6_1(WTWKGKGTLNR), i.e., discovered peptides and Synake, i.e., a positive control group (Biacore <NUM>, Biacore AB, Uppsala, Sweden). After fixing the acetylcholine receptors to a CM5 chip (Biacore) using EDC/NHS, association and dissociation were observed for up to <NUM> seconds. A binding ability comparing experiment was carried out under observation conditions of a running buffer of <NUM> Tris (pH <NUM>), a speed of <NUM> µℓ/min, a concentration of <NUM> to <NUM> (Synake), and a concentration of <NUM> to <NUM> (peptides S6_1). Respective results of the binding ability comparing experiment are shown in <FIG> (Synake) and <FIG> (peptides S6_1).

S6_1_C10 (TWKGKGTLNR), S6_1_C9 (WKGKGTLNR), S6_1_C10_end (WTWKGKGTLN), and S6_1_C9_end (WTWKGKGTL), i.e., peptides which each have one amino acid and two amino acids respectively removed from N-terminal and C-terminal thereof were synthesized to optimize S6_1.

A surface plasmon resonance (SPR) experiment was progressed using a biosensor chip to compare binding forces for acetylcholine receptors of these peptides (Biacore <NUM>, Biacore AB, Uppsala, Sweden).

After fixing selected acetylcholine receptor proteins to a CM5 chip (Biacore) using EDC/NHS, association and dissociation were observed for up to <NUM> seconds. An experiment of comparing optimizations and binding forces of the peptides was carried out under observation conditions of a running buffer of <NUM> Tris (pH <NUM>), a speed of <NUM> µℓ/min, and a peptide concentration of <NUM> (Synake, Vialox, S6_1, S6_1_C10, S6_1_C9, S6_1_C10_end, S6_1_C9_end, and S6_1_C6). Experiment results of comparing the optimizations and binding forces of the peptides are shown in <FIG>.

A surface plasmon resonance (SPR) experiment was progressed using a biosensor chip to check affinity values for acetylcholine receptors of optimized S6_1_C9 peptides (WKGKGTLNR) prepared in Example <NUM> (Biacore <NUM>, Biacore AB, Uppsala, Sweden).

After fixing selected acetylcholine receptor proteins to a CM5 chip (Biacore) using EDC/NHS, association and dissociation were observed for up to <NUM> seconds. An experiment of measuring affinity values of the peptides was carried out under observation conditions of a running buffer of <NUM> Tris (pH <NUM>), a speed of <NUM> µℓ/min, and a concentration of <NUM> to <NUM> (peptides S6_1_C9).

Experiment results of measuring the affinity values of the peptides are shown in <FIG>. Referring to <FIG>, it can be confirmed that the S6_1_C9 peptides (WKGKGTLNR) exhibit about <NUM> times higher binding abilities than Synake for acetylcholine.

Peptides according to the present disclosure suppress secretion of acetylcholine by having a high binding strength with an acetylcholine receptor, thereby strongly binding the peptides to acetylcholine. Therefore, a cosmetic composition and a pharmaceutical composition comprising peptides according to the present disclosure as an active ingredient exhibit an excellent wrinkle ameliorating effect.

Claim 1:
An acetylcholine receptor-binding peptide
consisting of any one sequence among amino acid sequences represented by the following sequence numbers <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM>:
Sequence number <NUM>: RKSLLR;
Sequence number <NUM>: WTWKGKGTLN; and
Sequence number <NUM>: WTWKGKGTL; or
consisting of an amino acid sequence represented by any one of the following general formulas <NUM> to <NUM>:
[General Formula <NUM>] WTWKG-Xn;
[General Formula <NUM>] TWKG-Xn;
[General Formula <NUM>] WKG-Xn;
wherein the Xn is selected from the group consisting of the following sequence numbers <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM>:
[Sequence number <NUM>] KGTLNR;
[Sequence number <NUM>] RKSLLR;
[Sequence number <NUM>] RDKLQM.