Development of Adiponectin-based Glycopeptides for Therapeutic Applications

Professor Li, Xuechen   (Project Coordinator (PC))

Professor Wang Yu   (Co-Investigator)

30

2022-05-01

5299142

Development of Adiponectin-based Glycopeptides for Therapeutic Applications

Adiponectin-based Glycopeptides, Therapeutic Applications

Drug Discovery and Delivery

Physical Sciences (P)

MRP/048/21X

Midstream Research Programme for Universities (MRP)

2021

On-going

Adiponectin is an insulin-sensitizing hormone with anti-diabetic, anti-atherogenic, anti-inflammatory, cardioprotective and anti-cancer properties. It has found that adiponectin protects the body’s metabolism and heart against the effects of obesity, and it can act as a ""guardian angel"" against breast cancer. Low level of circulating adiponectin (hypoadiponectinemia) is associated with various medical complications, such as obesity, coronary artery disease, endothelial dysfunction, hypertension, atherosclerosis, chronic inflammation and cancers. Thus, there is a long-standing interest in developing adiponectin supplementation for the unmet medical need by both academia and industry. However, the unsolved obstacle is the difficulty in obtaining the full-length glycosylated human adiponectin. Due to the presence of glycans with unique structures, recombinant approach to generate adiponectin is not possible at present. We have produced the glycosylated adiponectin collagenous domains via chemical synthesis, and found that the synthetic glycopeptide exhibits promising in vivo anti-tumor, insulin sensitizing and hepatoprotective activities and it can serve as the adiponectin downsized mimetic for the development of novel therapeutics to treat diseases associated with deficient adiponectin. In this project, we will conduct the preclinical studies on the synthetic glycopeptide for drug development