Early Detection of Growth Hormone Secretagogue Receptor Antagonists Exploiting Their Atypical Behavior in Competitive Assays

Anal Chem. 2019 Dec 3;91(23):14812-14817. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.9b03845. Epub 2019 Nov 14.

Abstract

We report the proof-of-concept of a bioaffinity format designed for the early detection of growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHS-R1a) antagonists in urine samples. We exploit here their atypical behavior in competitive experiments with labeled ghrelin (GHR), namely, the strong promoting effect on the GHR/GHS-R1a interaction at low molar ratios GHR/antagonist. The antagonists potentiate the GHR/GHS-R1a interaction, and they display the same effect on the interaction of GHS-R1a with other agonists listed as doping agents. The developed assay allows the estimation of affinity constants of ligand/receptor and antagonist/receptor binding and is amenable to optical, electrochemical, and mass-sensitive detection. The estimated affinity constants for GHR/GHS-R1a and antagonist/GHS-R1a in the absence of G proteins are in good agreement with recently reported data.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antibodies / chemistry
  • Appetite Depressants / urine*
  • Benzazepines / urine*
  • Binding, Competitive
  • Biotin / chemistry
  • Doping in Sports
  • Electrochemical Techniques*
  • Ghrelin / chemistry
  • Ghrelin / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Oligopeptides / urine*
  • Piperidines / urine*
  • Protein Binding
  • Quinazolinones / urine*
  • Receptors, Ghrelin / chemistry
  • Receptors, Ghrelin / metabolism*
  • Streptavidin / chemistry
  • Tetrazoles / urine*

Substances

  • Antibodies
  • Appetite Depressants
  • Benzazepines
  • GHRP-6, Lys(3)-
  • Ghrelin
  • L 692585
  • Oligopeptides
  • Piperidines
  • Quinazolinones
  • Receptors, Ghrelin
  • Tetrazoles
  • YIL 781
  • Biotin
  • Streptavidin