A recombinant slow-release PACAP-derived peptide alleviates diabetes by promoting both insulin secretion and actions.

Pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) is a neuroendocrine factor that activates both the receptor VPAC1 and VPAC2. Although PACAP possesses insulinotropic activity, its therapeutic application is limited by the extremely short acting half-life and the stimulatory effects on glucagon production via a VPAC1-dependent mechanism. Here we have generated a recombinant PACAP-derived peptide (named as MHDBAY) comprising a 7-mer albumin-binding peptide identified by phage display screening (WQRPSSW), a cleavage peptide for Factor Xa (FXa) and dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP IV), and a 31-amino acid PACAP-derived peptide (DBAY) that can specifically bind to the VPAC2 receptor. MHDBAY binds to albumin both in vitro and in animals, thereby leading to an orderly slow release of the active peptide DBAY via the protease cleavage. In db/db mice and New Zealand rabbits, the circulating half-life of MHDBAY is approximately 12.2 h, which is 146-fold longer than DBAY (∼5 min). A single injection of MHDBAY into db/db diabetic mice markedly increases insulin secretion, thereby leading to sustained alleviation of hyperglycemia. The potency and duration of MHDBAY in increasing insulin secretion and decreasing blood glucose levels is much greater than Exendin-4, an anti-diabetic drug via its insulinotropic actions. Furthermore, chronic administration of MHDBAY by daily injection for 8 weeks significantly improves both glucose and lipid profiles and also greatly increases insulin sensitivity in db/db mice. These findings suggest that serum albumin may act as a reservoir for slow-release of small bioactive peptides, and MHDBAY may represent a promising therapeutic peptide for diabetes.

Chitosan-decorated selenium nanoparticles as protein carriers to improve the in vivo half-life of the peptide therapeutic BAY 55-9837 for type 2 diabetes mellitus.

PURPOSE: As a potential protein therapeutic for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), BAY 55-9837 is limited by poor stability and a very short half-life in vivo. The purpose of this study was to construct a novel nanostructured biomaterial by conjugating BAY 55-9837 to chitosan-decorated selenium nanoparticles (CS-SeNPs) to prolong the in vivo half-life of BAY 55-9837 by reducing its renal clearance rate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: BAY 55-9837-loaded CS-SeNPs (BAY-CS-SeNPs) were prepared, and their surface morphology, particle size, zeta potential, and structure were characterized. The stability, protein-loading rate, and in vitro release of BAY 55-9837 from CS-SeNPs were also quantified. Additionally, a sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) assay was developed for the quantification of BAY 55-9837 in mouse plasma. Thereafter, mice were injected via the tail vein with either BAY 55-9837 or BAY-CS-SeNPs, and the plasma concentration of BAY 55-9837 was determined via our validated HPLC method at different time intervals postinjection. Relevant in vivo pharmacokinetic parameters (half-life, area under the curve from time 0 to last sampling point, observed clearance) were then calculated and analyzed. RESULTS: BAY-CS-SeNPs were successfully synthesized, with diameters of approximately 200 nm. BAY-CS-SeNPs displayed good stability with a high protein-loading rate, and the release process of BAY 55-9837 from the CS-SeNPs lasted for over 70 hours, with the cumulative release reaching 78.9%. Moreover, the conjugation of CS-SeNPs to BAY 55-9837 significantly reduced its renal clearance to a rate of 1.56 mL/h and extended its half-life to 20.81 hours. CONCLUSION: In summary, our work provides a simple method for reducing the renal clearance rate and extending the half-life of BAY 55-9837 in vivo by utilizing CS-SeNPs as nanocarriers.

A new recombinant pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating peptide-derived peptide efficiently promotes glucose uptake and glucose-dependent insulin secretion.

The recombinant peptide, DBAYL, a promising therapeutic peptide for type 2 diabetes, is a new, potent, and highly selective agonist for VPAC2 generated through site-directed mutagenesis based on sequence alignments of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating peptide (PACAP), vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), and related analogs. The recombinant DBAYL was used to evaluate its effect and mechanism in blood glucose metabolism and utilization. As much as 28.9 mg recombinant DBAYL peptide with purity over 98% can be obtained from 1 l of Luria-Bertani medium culture by the method established in this study and the prepared DBAYL with four mutations (N10Q, V18L, N29Q, and M added to the N-terminal) were much more stable than BAY55-9837. The half-life of recombinant DBAYL was about 25 folds compared with that of BAY55-9837 in vitro. The bioactivity assay of DBAYL showed that it displaced [(125)I]PACAP38 and [(125)I]VIP from VPAC2 with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration of 48.4 ± 6.9 and 47.1 ± 4.9 nM, respectively, which were significantly lower than that of BAY55-9837, one established VPAC2 agonists. DBAYL enhances the cAMP accumulation in CHO cells expressing human VPAC2 with a half-maximal stimulatory concentration (EC(50)) of 0.68 nM, whereas the receptor potency of DBAYL at human VPAC1 (EC(50) of 737 nM) was only 1/1083 of that at human VPAC2, and DBAYL had no activity toward human PAC1 receptor. Western blot analysis of the key proteins of insulin receptor signaling pathway: insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1) and glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) indicated that the DBAYL could significantly induce the insulin-stimulated IRS-1 and GLUT4 expression more efficiently than BAY55-9837 and VIP in adipocytes. Compared with BAY55-9837 and PACAP38, the recombinant peptide DBAYL can more efficiently promote insulin release and decrease plasma glucose level in Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mice. These results suggested that DBAYL could efficiently improve glucose uptake and glucose-dependent insulin secretion by VPAC2-mediated effect.