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A marriage made to last in drug design

Many mechanisms can contribute to complex diseases such as metabolic diseases; thus, combination therapies may be required to target individual underlying pathological mechanisms. A new study combines glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP1) and estrogen in a single molecule, allowing selective targeting of this conjugate to cells that express the GLP1 receptor. This strategy improves the metabolic profile of obese mice without the adverse side effects associated with estrogen therapy (pages 1847–1856).

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Figure 1: A summary of the effects of GLP1, estrogen and a conjugated GLP1–estrogen compound.

Debbie Maizels

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Correspondence to Tamas L Horvath.

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Dietrich, M., Horvath, T. A marriage made to last in drug design. Nat Med 18, 1737–1738 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3018

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