Discovery of a novel potent peptide agonist to adiponectin receptor 1

PLoS One. 2018 Jun 18;13(6):e0199256. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0199256. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Activation of adiponectin receptors (AdipoRs) by its natural ligand, adiponectin has been known to be involved in modulating critical metabolic processes such as glucose metabolism and fatty acid oxidation as demonstrated by a number of in vitro and in vivo studies over last two decades. These findings suggest that AdipoRs' agonists could be developed into a potential therapeutic agent for metabolic diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, especially for type II diabetes, a long-term metabolic disorder characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Because of limitations in production of biologically active adiponectin, adiponectin-mimetic AdipoRs' agonists have been suggested as alternative ways to expand the opportunity to develop anti-diabetic agents. Based on crystal structure of AdipoR1, we designed AdipoR1's peptide agonists using protein-peptide docking simulation and screened their receptor binding abilities and biological functions via surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and biological analysis. Three candidate peptides, BHD1028, BHD43, and BHD44 were selected and confirmed to activate AdipoR1-mediated signal pathways. In order to enhance the stability and solubility of peptide agonists, candidate peptides were PEGylated. PEGylated BHD1028 exhibited its biological activity at nano-molar concentration and could be a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of diabetes. Also, SPR and virtual screening techniques utilized in this study may potentially be applied to other peptide-drug screening processes against membrane receptor proteins.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adiponectin / agonists
  • Adiponectin / chemistry
  • Biomimetics*
  • Blood Glucose
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / blood
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / drug therapy*
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / pathology
  • Fatty Acids / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Fatty Acids / chemistry
  • Humans
  • Insulin Resistance
  • Molecular Docking Simulation
  • Oxidation-Reduction
  • Peptides / chemistry*
  • Peptides / therapeutic use
  • Protein Interaction Maps
  • Receptors, Adiponectin / agonists
  • Receptors, Adiponectin / chemistry*
  • Receptors, Adiponectin / therapeutic use
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects
  • Surface Plasmon Resonance

Substances

  • ADIPOR1 protein, human
  • Adiponectin
  • Blood Glucose
  • Fatty Acids
  • Peptides
  • Receptors, Adiponectin

Grants and funding

For this study, EncuraGen provided financial support for study design, research materials, data collection, analysis and salary for author B.B.K. Polus Inc. and Samhyun Inc. provided support in the form of salaries for S.K and Y.J.S, respectively. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.