Drug Discovery Opinion

Metabolic syndrome is a combination of medical disorders that increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. A 39-residue synthetic peptide, Exenatide, which is approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, acts by mimicking the action of endogenous glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), a regulator of glucose metabolism and insulin secretion.

Researchers have now shown that chronic administration of a non-peptide molecule, Boc5, can induce weight loss and increase insulin sensitivity in a mouse model of diabetes and obesity by binding to the receptor for GLP-1. Boc5 is the only non-peptide molecule reported so far that behaves as a full GLP-1 mimetic in vitro and in vivo. Although Boc5 itself does not have the properties of a ‘drug-like’ molecule, it may represent a starting point for the discovery of orally bioavailable agents with the potential to treat metabolic disorders.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Related posts:

1. Man or Mouse – It’s Important in Diabetes Research During the development of type 2 diabetes, uptake of glucose from the blood by muscle and fat cells in response...
2. New DPP-4 Inhibitor Demonstrates Glucose Control in Type 2 Diabetes Type-2 diabetes is a metabolic disorder that is increasing rapidly in the developed world. The disease is caused by reduced...
3. Another Way to Control GLP-1 The incretin, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), is an intestinal hormone that stimulates production and release of insulin from pancreatic beta cells....
4. PPARγ– A New Twist in the Tale Obesity and related disorders such as diabetes have reached epidemic proportions. Although the anti-diabetic thiazolidinediones (glitazones) are effective insulin sensitizers,...
5. New Insights into Adipogenesis The nuclear receptor, PPARγ, has hitherto been regarded as the master regulator of adipogenesis, without which new adipose tissue cannot...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

 Email This Post

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 at 9:08 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.