Screening and Identification of a Targeting Peptide to nGLP-1R from Phage Display Peptide Library

<正>In order to provide the structure information for designing new exendin-4 analogues,a phage display peptide library was screened by targeting the N-terminal extracellular domain of GLP-1R(nGLP-1R).After four rounds of selection,nine sequences were obtained,four of them have higher affinity for nGLP-1R than the others.We chose two of them named X and Y peptides.Isletβ-cell proliferation assay suggested that X and Y peptides didn't have any activity to increase isletβ-cell proliferation.In other words,X and Y peptides were not agonists to GLP-1R.However, the conservative motifs of X and Y peptides provided us useful information to design new exendin-4 analogues.     

Delivery of Thyronamines (TAMs) to the Brain: A Preliminary Study

Recent reports highlighted the significant neuroprotective effects of thyronamines (TAMs), a class of endogenous thyroid hormone derivatives. In particular, 3-iodothyronamine (T1AM) has been shown to play a pleiotropic role in neurodegeneration by modulating energy metabolism and neurological functions in mice. However, the pharmacological response to T1AM might be influenced by tissue metabolism, which is known to convert T1AM into its catabolite 3-iodothyroacetic acid (TA1). Currently, several research groups are investigating the pharmacological effects of T1AM systemic administration in the search of novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of interlinked pathologies, such as metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs). A critical aspect in the development of new drugs for NDDs is to know their distribution in the brain, which is fundamentally related to their ability to cross the blood–brain barrier (BBB). To this end, in the present study we used the immortalized mouse brain endothelial cell line bEnd.3 to develop an in vitro model of BBB and evaluate T1AM and TA1 permeability. Both drugs, administered at 1 µM dose, were assayed by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. Our results indicate that T1AM is able to efficiently cross the BBB, whereas TA1 is almost completely devoid of this property.