Polypharmacy through Phage Display: Selection of Glucagon and GLP-1 Receptor Co-agonists from a Phage-Displayed Peptide Library

Sci Rep. 2018 Jan 12;8(1):585. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-18494-5.

Abstract

A promising emerging area for the treatment of obesity and diabetes is combinatorial hormone therapy, where single-molecule peptides are rationally designed to integrate the complementary actions of multiple endogenous metabolically-related hormones. We describe here a proof-of-concept study on developing unimolecular polypharmacy agents through the use of selection methods based on phage-displayed peptide libraries (PDL). Co-agonists of the glucagon (GCG) and GLP-1 receptors were identified from a PDL sequentially selected on GCGR- and GLP1R-overexpressing cells. After two or three rounds of selection, 7.5% of randomly picked clones were GLP1R/GCGR co-agonists, and a further 1.53% were agonists of a single receptor. The phages were sequenced and 35 corresponding peptides were synthesized. 18 peptides were potent co-agonists, 8 of whom showed EC50 ≤ 30 pM on each receptor, comparable to the best rationally designed co-agonists reported in the literature. Based on literature examples, two sequences were engineered to stabilize against dipeptidyl peptidase IV cleavage and prolong the in vivo half-life: the engineered peptides were comparably potent to the parent peptides on both receptors, highlighting the potential use of phage-derived peptides as therapeutic agents. The strategy described here appears of general value for the discovery of optimized polypharmacology paradigms across several metabolically-related hormones.

MeSH terms

  • Diabetes Mellitus / drug therapy
  • Dipeptidyl Peptidase 4 / metabolism
  • Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor / agonists*
  • Humans
  • Obesity / drug therapy
  • Peptide Library
  • Peptides / chemical synthesis*
  • Peptides / genetics
  • Peptides / pharmacology*
  • Polypharmacy
  • Receptors, Glucagon / agonists*
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA

Substances

  • Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor
  • Peptide Library
  • Peptides
  • Receptors, Glucagon
  • Dipeptidyl Peptidase 4