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Ectopic expression of glucagon-like peptide 1 for gene therapy of type II diabetes

Gene Therapy volume 14, pages 38–48 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) is a promising candidate for the treatment of type II diabetes. However, the short in vivo half-life of GLP-1 has made peptide-based treatments challenging. Gene therapy aimed at achieving continuous GLP-1 expression presents one way to circumvent the rapid turnover of GLP-1. We have created a GLP-1 minigene that can direct the secretion of active GLP-1 (amino acids 7–37). Plasmid and adenoviral expression vectors encoding the 31-amino-acid peptide linked to leader sequences required for secretion of GLP-1 yielded sustained levels of active GLP-1 that were significantly greater than endogenous levels. Systemic administration of expression vectors to animals using two diabetic rodent models, db/db mice and Zucker Diabetic Fatty (ZDF) rats, yielded elevated GLP-1 levels that lowered both the fasting and random-fed hyperglycemia present in these animals. Because the insulinotropic actions of GLP-1 are glucose dependent, no evidence of hypoglycemia was observed. Improved glucose homeostasis was demonstrated by improvements in %HbA1c (glycated hemoglobin) and in glucose tolerance tests. GLP-1-treated animals had higher circulating insulin levels and increased insulin immunostaining of pancreatic sections. GLP-1-treated ZDF rats showed diminished food intake and, in the first few weeks following vector administration, a diminished weight gain. These results demonstrate the feasibility of gene therapy for type II diabetes using GLP-1 expression vectors.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to W Weber for help with insulin immunohistochemistry quantitation, to A Sullivan, M Joseph, and S Boulé for expert technical assistance, and to C Arbeeny for helpful suggestions.

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  1. Department of Molecular Biology, Genzyme Corporation, Framingham, MA, USA

    G B Parsons, D W Souza, H Wu, D Yu, S G Wadsworth, R J Gregory & D Armentano

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  1. G B Parsons
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  2. D W Souza
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  3. H Wu
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Correspondence to G B Parsons.

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Parsons, G., Souza, D., Wu, H. et al. Ectopic expression of glucagon-like peptide 1 for gene therapy of type II diabetes. Gene Ther 14, 38–48 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gt.3302842

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