08 Aug New Anti-Diabetic Compound May Avoid Bone Loss Seen With Current Medications

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Patrick Griffin

Patrick Griffin, PhD
Professor
Department of Molecular Therapeutics
The Scripps Research Institute Florida Campus

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Over the past decade, our laboratory and that of TSRI Associate Professor Theodore Kamenecka, have focused on molecules that increase sensitivity to insulin. Using newly discovered information, we have made significant advances in developing a family of drug candidates that target a receptor known as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors gamma (PPARγ), a key regulator of stem cells controlling bone formation and bone resorption and a master regulator of fat.

MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?

Response: Anti-diabetic drugs known as glitazones (TZDs) target the PPARγ protein, but that interaction leads to severe bone loss and increased fractures. Our compound is designed to avoid this troubling outcome. Using structural biology techniques and rational design synthetic chemistry, the new compound engages the PPARγ protein in a unique way to treat diabetes and, at the same time, improve bone health.

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Response: Our study, co-led by myself and B. Lecka-Czernik, a professor at the University of Toledo, has shown that our new class of drug candidates increases bone mass by expanding bone formation (deposition of new bone) and bone turnover (a normal process of replacement of old bone). A proper balance of these two processes is critical to healthy bone maintenance, and this balance is frequently negatively affected in diabetic patients.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Response: We expect to continue to study the compound and hope to eventually move it into clinical development.

MedicalResearch.com: Thank you for your contribution to the MedicalResearch.com community.

Citation:

PPARG Post-translational Modifications Regulate Bone Formation and Bone Resorption
Stechschulte, L.A. et al.
EBioMedicine , Volume 0 , Issue 0
L.A. Stechschulte,P.J. Czernik,Z.C. Rotter, F.N. Tausif, C.A. Corzo,D.P. Marciano,A.Asteian, J. Zheng, J.B. Bruning, T.M. Kamenecka, C.J. Rosen,
P.R. Griffin, B. Lecka-Czernik

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2016.06.040

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Last Updated on August 8, 2016 by Marie Benz MD FAAD