#Pharmacology

www.biorxiv.org

Chronic semaglutide treatment enhances the incentive motivational value of a small food reward and associated cue in male and female rats

Rationale: Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, such as semaglutide, are increasingly utilized in clinical practice due to their efficacy in promoting sustained weight loss following chr...

careers.umich.edu

Professor / Associate Professor / Assistant Professor | U-M Careers

voxmeditantis.com

Frances Kelsey: The Woman Who Stopped Thalidomide

Frances Kelsey, a Canadian pharmacologist, famously blocked thalidomide’s approval in the US, sparing thousands from birth defects. Her steadfast refusal, rooted in evidence and public duty, revolu…

doi.org

Tropical psychotria plants are a rich source for peptide inhibitors of human prolyl oligopeptidase - Natural Products and Bioprospecting

Peptides from natural sources have often served as valuable leads in drug discovery. Plant-derived protease inhibitors are a notable class, yet their distribution, diversity, and targets remain underexplored. Here, eleven tropical Psychotria species were screened for cyclic cysteine-rich peptides, with extracts showing concentration-dependent inhibition of human prolyl oligopeptidase (POP). Peptidomics combining mass spectrometry and transcriptome mining revealed multiple inhibitory peptides. From Psychotria solitudinum, which contained 37 peptides, a novel peptide (psysol 3) was purified and sequenced. Its synthetic analogue inhibited POP with an IC50 of ~ 1.3 µM. Sequence analysis and synthetic probes identified loop 3 as the inhibitory motif. Psysol 3 is a new probe for POP pharmacology and future structure–activity studies.