Issue 12, 2022

Functional stapled fragments of human preptin of minimised length

Abstract

Preptin is a 34-amino-acid-long peptide derived from the E-domain of a precursor of insulin-like growth factor 2 (pro-IGF2) with bone-anabolic and insulin secretion amplifying properties. Here, we describe the synthesis, structures, and biological activities of six shortened analogues of human preptin. Eight- and nine-amino-acid-long peptide amides corresponding to the C-terminal part of human preptin were stabilised by two types of staples to induce a higher proportion of helicity in their secondary structure. We monitored the secondary structure of the stapled peptides using circular dichroism. The biological effect of the structural changes was determined afterwards by the ability of peptides to stimulate the release of intracellular calcium ions. We confirmed the previous observation that the stabilisation of the disordered conformation of human preptin has a deleterious effect on biological potency. However, surprisingly, one of our preptin analogues, a nonapeptide stabilised by olefin metathesis between positions 3 and 7 of the amino acid chain, had a similar ability to stimulate calcium ions’ release to the full-length human preptin. Our findings could open up new ways to design new preptin analogues, which may have potential as drugs for the treatment of diabetes and osteoporosis.

Graphical abstract: Functional stapled fragments of human preptin of minimised length

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
09 Nov 2021
Accepted
24 Feb 2022
First published
24 Feb 2022

Org. Biomol. Chem., 2022,20, 2446-2454

Functional stapled fragments of human preptin of minimised length

M. Lubos, L. Mrázková, P. Gwozdiaková, J. Pícha, M. Buděšínský, J. Jiráček, J. Kaminský and L. Žáková, Org. Biomol. Chem., 2022, 20, 2446 DOI: 10.1039/D1OB02193A

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