Polyomic profiling reveals significant hepatic metabolic alterations in glucagon-receptor (GCGR) knockout mice: implications on anti-glucagon therapies for diabetes.

BACKGROUND: Glucagon is an important hormone in the regulation of glucose homeostasis, particularly in the maintenance of euglycemia and prevention of hypoglycemia. In type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), glucagon levels are elevated in both the fasted and postprandial states, which contributes to inappropriate hyperglycemia through excessive hepatic glucose production. Efforts to discover and evaluate glucagon receptor antagonists for the treatment of T2DM have been ongoing for approximately two decades, with the challenge being to identify an agent with appropriate pharmaceutical properties and efficacy relative to potential side effects. We sought to determine the hepatic & systemic consequence of full glucagon receptor antagonism through the study of the glucagon receptor knock-out mouse (Gcgr-/-) compared to wild-type littermates. RESULTS: Liver transcriptomics was performed using Affymetric expression array profiling, and liver proteomics was performed by iTRAQ global protein analysis. To complement the transcriptomic and proteomic analyses, we also conducted metabolite profiling (~200 analytes) using mass spectrometry in plasma. Overall, there was excellent concordance (R = 0.88) for changes associated with receptor knock-out between the transcript and protein analysis. Pathway analysis tools were used to map the metabolic processes in liver altered by glucagon receptor ablation, the most notable being significant down-regulation of gluconeogenesis, amino acid catabolism, and fatty acid oxidation processes, with significant up-regulation of glycolysis, fatty acid synthesis, and cholesterol biosynthetic processes. These changes at the level of the liver were manifested through an altered plasma metabolite profile in the receptor knock-out mice, e.g. decreased glucose and glucose-derived metabolites, and increased amino acids, cholesterol, and bile acid levels. CONCLUSIONS: In sum, the results of this study suggest that the complete ablation of hepatic glucagon receptor function results in major metabolic alterations in the liver, which, while promoting improved glycemic control, may be associated with adverse lipid changes.

Discovery of 5-hydroxyalkyl-4-phenylpyridines as a new class of glucagon receptor antagonists.

5-Hydroxyalkyl-4-phenylpyridines have been identified as a novel class of glucagon antagonists with potential utility for the treatment of diabetes. A lead structure with moderate activity was discovered through a high throughput screening assay. Structure-activity relationships led to the discovery of a potent antagonist, IC(50)=0.11 microM, more than 60-fold improvement over the lead structure.

Optimization of the 4-aryl group of 4-aryl-pyridine glucagon antagonists: development of an efficient, alternative synthesis.

A narrow structure-activity relationship was established for the 4-aryl group in 4-aryl-pyridine glucagon antagonists, with only small substituents being well-tolerated, and only at the 3'- and 4'-positions. However, substitution with a 2'-hydroxy group gave a ca. 3-fold increase in activity (e.g., 4'-fluoro-2'-hydroxy analogue 33, IC50=190 nM). For efficient preparation of 2'-substituted phenylpyridines, a novel synthesis via pyrones and 4-methoxy-pyridines was developed.

Integration of optimized substituent patterns to produce highly potent 4-aryl-pyridine glucagon receptor antagonists.

Optimized substituent patterns in 4-aryl-pyridine glucagon receptor antagonists were merged to produce highly potent derivatives containing both a 3-[(1R)-hydroxyethyl] and a 2'-hydroxy group. Due to restricted rotation of the phenyl-pyridine bond, these analogues exist as four isomers. A diastereoselective methylcopper reaction was developed to facilitate the synthesis, and single isomers were isolated with activities in the range IC(50)=10-25 nM.