Introduction
Peptide and protein mediators are important physiological regulators. This exercise investigates the physiology and pharmacology of peptide mediators in feeding and satiety (feeling full). The regulation of feeding is complex and regulated by numerous different mediators that can have effects on appetite, food intake, energy expenditure, and satiety.
In this exercise, you will research the physiology and pharmacology of a particular peptide mediator that is involved in feeding and satiety, and design a theoretical drug that interferes with this peptide pathway. You will then prepare a poster that presents the pharmacology of your peptide, and explains how the drug you have designed will interfere with this pathway to alter food intake.
Task
Your task is to design a drug that will (theoretically) act on one part of the physiological pathway (e.g. production, action or termination) of your peptide and reduce food intake (i.e. a new ‘diet pill’). You can work as a group to research your peptide, however each student needs to design their drug (and prepare the poster) individually.
1) Research your peptide. Your research should focus on two main areas:
a) The physiology and pharmacology of your peptide (production, transport, physiological action and termination). When researching the physiology and pharmacology of your peptide you need to focus on the core pharmacology concepts related to peptide signalling that we have discussed in class. Key things to consider include:
How is your peptide synthesized?
How is your peptide released?
What receptors does your peptide interact with?
What are the consequences of that interaction?
How are the actions of your peptide terminated?
b) The role of your peptide in regulating an aspect of food intake (e.g. appetite, food intake, energy expenditure, satiety). Does your peptide act to increase or decrease food intake?
Your primary source for research should be peer-reviewed biomedical science literature which you can search for using PubMed (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.).
Note: The role of peptide mediators in regulating feeding and satiety is an area of active current research, and much of our knowledge in this field is very new. You should not rely on being able to find evidence from clinical studies conducted in humans. Make sure that you also consider research from other types of research (e.g. experimental studies, animal models, cultured cells, bioinformatics, etc), all of which make important contributions to drug development.
2) After researching your peptide, decide which part of that peptide pathway you are going to target with that a theoretical drug that will reduce food intake.
Which part of the peptide pathway are you going to interfere with?
How will you interfere with that part of the pathway? Remember to use your core pharmacology concepts here.
3) Create a name for your new drug.
4) Prepare a 1 page poster advertising your new drug. Your poster must include the following required elements:
The name of your new drug (be creative!).
A brief description of the peptide pathway your drug acts on, and how this peptide affects food intake.
An explanation of the mechanism of action for your drug (use a flow diagram).
A catchy marketing slogan to advertise your drug.
Reference information. You can choose your preferred referencing style, and where you place this on your poster. There is no minimum number of references.