Discovery of novel glucagon-like peptide 1/cholecystokinin 1 receptor dual agonists.

The combined use of gastrointestinal hormones for treating metabolic diseases is gaining increasing attention. The potential of developing novel dual agonists targeting both cholecystokinin 1 (CCK-1) receptor and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor to improve the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity have not been fully explored. In this investigation, we reported a series of novel GLP-1/CCK-1 receptor co-agonists constructed by linking the C-terminus of a GLP-1 receptor agonist (bullfrog GLP-1) to the N-terminus of a CCK-1 receptor selective agonist NN9056. In comprehensive in vitro assays, these co-agonists exhibited complete agonistic potency on GLP-1 and CCK-1 receptor. Remarkably, 1f displayed superior hypoglycemic and insulinotropic effects when compared to NN9056 and semaglutide. Evaluation in Kunming and diet-induced obesity (DIO) mice unveiled significant acute and enduring hypoglycemic effects of 1f. Administration of 1f to DIO mice resulted in substantial weight loss, normalized lipid metabolism, and enhanced glucose regulation. These preclinical observations strongly advocate for the therapeutic potential CCK-1 and GLP-1 pathways could be harnessed in a single fusion peptide, yielding a promising combination therapy strategy for treating metabolic disorders.

Evolution of peptide YY analogs for the management of type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Peptide YY (PYY) is a gastrointestinal hormone consisting of 36 amino acids, that is predominantly secreted by intestinal l-cells. Originally extracted from pig intestines, it belongs to the pancreatic polypeptide (PP) family, but has functions distinct from those of PP and neuropeptide Y (NPY). PYY is a potential treatment for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) because of its ability to delay gastric emptying, reduce appetite, decrease weight, and lower blood glucose. However, the clinical use of PYY is limited because it is rapidly cleared by the kidneys and degraded by enzymes. In recent years, researchers have conducted various structural modifications, including amino acid substitution, PEGylation, lipidation, and fusion of PYY with other proteins to prolong its half-life and enhance its biological activity. This study presents an overview of the recent progress on PYY, including its physiological functions, metabolites and structure-activity relationships.

Emerging roles of oxyntomodulin-based glucagon-like peptide-1/glucagon co-agonist analogs in diabetes and obesity.

Oxyntomodulin (OXM) is an endogenous peptide hormone secreted from the intestines following nutrient ingestion that activates both glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucagon receptors. OXM is known to exert various effects, including improvement in glucose tolerance, promotion of energy expenditure, acceleration of liver lipolysis, inhibition of food intake, delay of gastric emptying, neuroprotection, and pain relief. The antidiabetic and antiobesity properties have led to the development of biologically active and enzymatically stable OXM-based analogs with proposed therapeutic promise for metabolic diseases. Structural modification of OXM was ongoing to enhance its potency and prolong half-life, and several GLP-1/glucagon dual receptor agonist-based therapies are being explored in clinical trials for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus and its complications. In the present article, we provide a brief overview of the physiology of OXM, focusing on its structural-activity relationship and ongoing clinical development.

Research progress of glucagon-like peptide-1 and its analogues on oxidative stress / 中国药科大学学报

@#Glucagon-like peptide-1(GLP-1), a polypeptide secreted by small intestinal L cells, has various effects including increasing insulin synthesis and secretion, suppressing appetite, and delaying gastric emptying. In addition to glucose control, GLP-1 has multiple functions in a variety of tissues and organs. A number of studies have shown that GLP-1 receptor agonists could treat a variety of chronic diseases, including diabetes, through antioxidant mechanisms. Based on oxidative stress, this paper summarizes the current progress in the synthesis & metabolism, pancreatic and extracantral effects, anti-oxidation effects of diabetes and its complications, aging, and neurological diseases of GLP-1, with an attempt to provide theoretical reference to researches on related oxidative stress mechanisms and development of new drug.

Molecular mechanism underlying the inhibitory effect of spermine oxidase inhibitor SI-4650 on proliferation of a human malignant melanoma cell line A375 / 中华皮肤科杂志

Objective@#To evaluate the effect of spermine oxidase (SMO) inhibitor SI-4650 on the proliferation of a human malignant melanoma cell line A375, and to explore its molecular mechanism.@*Methods@#Some cultured A375 cells were divided into 6 groups to be treated with SI-4650 at concentrations of 0, 10, 20, 40, 80 and 160 μmol/L respectively for 24, 48 and 72 hours, and methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay was performed to evaluate changes in cellular proliferative activity. According to the cellular proliferative activity, 3 concentrations (0, 40, 80 μmol/L) were screened out. Some A375 cells were divided into 3 groups to be treated with 0 (control group) , 40 and 80 μmol/L SI-4650 for 48 hours. Chemiluminescence assay was conducted to detect the SMO activity in A375 cells, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis to determine the polyamine content in A375 cells, flow cytometry to analyze the cell cycle and detect the apoptosis, and Western blot analysis to determine the protein expression of apoptotic marker proteins Bax and c-PARP, inhibitor of apoptosis protein Bcl-2, and autophagy marker proteins Beclin-1 and LC3-Ⅱ. Statistical analysis was carried out by using one-way analysis of variance for comparison of means among several groups, and by using Student-Newman-Keuls (SNK) -q test for multiple comparisons.@*Results@#MTT assay showed that there was a significant difference in the proliferative activity of A375 cells after the treatment with different concentrations of SI-4650 for different durations (F = 977.23, 5.16 respectively, both P < 0.001) . Significant differences were observed in the SMO activity in A375 cells (F = 242.58, P < 0.001) , spermine and the total polyamine content (F = 338.02, 2 931.07 respectively, both P < 0.001) , proportion of S-phase cells (F = 31.66, P < 0.001) , proportion of apoptotic cells (F = 100.68, P < 0.001) , expression of apoptosis-related proteins Bax, c-PARP and Bcl-2 (F = 35.51, 730.11, 27.54 respectively, all P < 0.001) , and expression of autophagy marker proteins Beclin-1 and LC3-Ⅱ (F = 35.87, 425.04 respectively, P < 0.001) among the control group, 40- and 80-μmol/L SI-4650 groups. Compared with the control group, the 40- and 80-μmol/L SI-4650 groups showed significantly lower SMO activity (luminous intensity: 61 432.85 ± 2 620.92, 43 337.35 ± 1 221.25 respectively, both P < 0.05) , lower spermine (1.97 ± 0.007, 1.88 ± 0.006 respectively, both P < 0.05) and total polyamine content (3.18 ± 0.03, 2.81 ± 0.01 respectively, both P < 0.05) , higher proportions of S-phase cells (27.61% ± 2.05%, 31.58% ± 1.45% respectively, both P < 0.05) and apoptotic cells (27.61% ± 2.05%, 31.58% ± 1.45% respectively, both P < 0.05) , higher expression of apoptotic marker proteins Bax (0.83 ± 0.12, 1.18 ± 0.16 respectively, both P < 0.05) and c-PARP (0.32 ± 0.002, 0.79 ± 0.035 respectively, both P < 0.05) and autophagy marker proteins Beclin-1 (1.00 ± 0.007, 1.14 ± 0.003 respectively, both P < 0.05) and LC3-Ⅱ (0.31 ± 0.001, 0.98 ± 0.003 respectively, both P < 0.05) , and lower expression of inhibitor of apoptosis protein Bcl-2 (0.65 ± 0.09, 0.12 ± 0.002 respectively, both P < 0.05) .@*Conclusion@#SI-4650 can inhibit the proliferation of A375 cells, likely by interfering with polyamine metabolism and inducing cell cycle arrest, apoptosis and autophagy.

Molecular mechanism underlying the inhibitory effect of spermine oxidase inhibitor SI-4650 on proliferation of a human malignant melanoma cell line A375 / 中华皮肤科杂志

Objective To evaluate the effect of spermine oxidase(SMO)inhibitor SI-4650 on the proliferation of a human malignant melanoma cell line A375, and to explore its molecular mechanism. Methods Some cultured A375 cells were divided into 6 groups to be treated with SI- 4650 at concentrations of 0, 10, 20, 40, 80 and 160 μmol/L respectively for 24, 48 and 72 hours, and methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium(MTT)assay was performed to evaluate changes in cellular proliferative activity. According to the cellular proliferative activity, 3 concentrations (0, 40, 80 μmol/L) were screened out. Some A375 cells were divided into 3 groups to be treated with 0(control group), 40 and 80μmol/L SI-4650 for 48 hours. Chemiluminescence assay was conducted to detect the SMO activity in A375 cells, high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC)analysis to determine the polyamine content in A375 cells,flow cytometry to analyze the cell cycle and detect the apoptosis, and Western blot analysis to determine the protein expression of apoptotic marker proteins Bax and c-PARP, inhibitor of apoptosis protein Bcl-2, and autophagy marker proteins Beclin-1 and LC3-Ⅱ. Statistical analysis was carried out by using one-way analysis of variance for comparison of means among several groups, and by using Student-Newman-Keuls (SNK)-q test for multiple comparisons. Results MTT assay showed that there was a significant difference in the proliferative activity of A375 cells after the treatment with different concentrations of SI-4650 for different durations(F=977.23, 5.16 respectively, both P<0.001). Significant differences were observed in the SMO activity in A375 cells(F=242.58, P<0.001), spermine and the total polyamine content(F=338.02, 2931.07 respectively, both P < 0.001), proportion of S-phase cells (F = 31.66, P < 0.001), proportion of apoptotic cells(F=100.68, P<0.001), expression of apoptosis-related proteins Bax, c-PARP and Bcl-2(F = 35.51, 730.11, 27.54 respectively, all P < 0.001), and expression of autophagy marker proteins Beclin-1 and LC3-Ⅱ(F = 35.87, 425.04 respectively, P < 0.001)among the control group, 40-and 80-μmol/L SI-4650 groups. Compared with the control group, the 40-and 80-μmol/L SI-4650 groups showed significantly lower SMO activity(luminous intensity:61432.85 ± 2620.92, 43337.35 ± 1221.25 respectively, both P<0.05), lower spermine(1.97 ± 0.007, 1.88 ± 0.006 respectively, both P<0.05)and total polyamine content (3.18 ± 0.03, 2.81 ± 0.01 respectively, both P < 0.05), higher proportions of S-phase cells (27.61％ ± 2.05％, 31.58％ ± 1.45％ respectively, both P < 0.05) and apoptotic cells (27.61％ ± 2.05％, 31.58％ ± 1.45％ respectively, both P < 0.05), higher expression of apoptotic marker proteins Bax(0.83 ± 0.12, 1.18 ± 0.16 respectively, both P < 0.05)and c-PARP(0.32 ± 0.002, 0.79 ± 0.035 respectively, both P < 0.05)and autophagy marker proteins Beclin-1(1.00 ± 0.007, 1.14 ± 0.003 respectively, both P < 0.05)and LC3-Ⅱ(0.31 ± 0.001, 0.98 ± 0.003 respectively, both P < 0.05), and lower expression of inhibitor of apoptosis protein Bcl-2(0.65 ± 0.09, 0.12 ± 0.002 respectively, both P<0.05). Conclusion SI-4650 can inhibit the proliferation of A375 cells, likely by interfering with polyamine metabolism and inducing cell cycle arrest, apoptosis and autophagy.

Synthesis and preliminary anti-diabetic activity evaluation of novel PEGylated GLP-1 receptor agonists / 中国药科大学学报

@#In order to obtain glucagon-like peptide-1(GLP-1)analogs which can sustainedly control the levels of glucose, 12 derivatives were designed and synthesized by coupling monomethoxy polyethylene glycol(mPEG, with average molecular weights of 350, 550 and 750)to GLP-1 analogs. Preliminary pharmacological activities showed that all compounds retained GLP-1 receptor agonist activities, and the hypoglycemic activity of compound I-12 was similar to those of Ex-4 and Liraglutide, suggesting I-12 could be a potential long-acting GLP-1 receptor agonist.