Exploring Conformational Transitions in Biased and Balanced Ligand Binding of GLP-1R

The glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R), which belongs to the class B1 G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family, is an important target for treatment of metabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes and obesity. The growing interest in GLP-1R-based therapies is driven by the development of va...

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Main Authors: Marc Xu, Horst Vogel, Shuguang Yuan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-07-01
Series:Molecules
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/30/15/3216
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author Marc Xu
Horst Vogel
Shuguang Yuan
author_facet Marc Xu
Horst Vogel
Shuguang Yuan
author_sort Marc Xu
collection DOAJ
description The glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R), which belongs to the class B1 G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family, is an important target for treatment of metabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes and obesity. The growing interest in GLP-1R-based therapies is driven by the development of various functional agonists as well as the huge commercial market. Thus, understanding the structural details of ligand-induced signaling are important for developing improved GLP-1R drugs. Here, we investigated the conformational dynamics of the receptor in complex with a selection of prototypical functional agonists, including CHU-128 (small molecule-biased), danuglipron (small molecule balanced), and Peptide 19 (peptide balanced), which exhibit unique, distinct binding modes and induced helix packing. Furthermore, our all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations revealed atomic feature how different those ligands led to signaling pathway preference. Our findings offer valuable insights into the mechanistic principle of GLP-1R activation, which are helpful for the rational design of next-generation GLP-1R drug molecules.
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spelling doaj-art-b86a69fd798b465e8063a730c846263b2025-08-20T03:36:27ZengMDPI AGMolecules1420-30492025-07-013015321610.3390/molecules30153216Exploring Conformational Transitions in Biased and Balanced Ligand Binding of GLP-1RMarc Xu0Horst Vogel1Shuguang Yuan2Research Center for Computer-Aided Drug Discovery, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, ChinaResearch Center for Computer-Aided Drug Discovery, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, ChinaResearch Center for Computer-Aided Drug Discovery, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, ChinaThe glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R), which belongs to the class B1 G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family, is an important target for treatment of metabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes and obesity. The growing interest in GLP-1R-based therapies is driven by the development of various functional agonists as well as the huge commercial market. Thus, understanding the structural details of ligand-induced signaling are important for developing improved GLP-1R drugs. Here, we investigated the conformational dynamics of the receptor in complex with a selection of prototypical functional agonists, including CHU-128 (small molecule-biased), danuglipron (small molecule balanced), and Peptide 19 (peptide balanced), which exhibit unique, distinct binding modes and induced helix packing. Furthermore, our all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations revealed atomic feature how different those ligands led to signaling pathway preference. Our findings offer valuable insights into the mechanistic principle of GLP-1R activation, which are helpful for the rational design of next-generation GLP-1R drug molecules.https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/30/15/3216GLP-1R signalingconformational dynamicsstructural analysesmolecular dynamics simulation
spellingShingle Marc Xu
Horst Vogel
Shuguang Yuan
Exploring Conformational Transitions in Biased and Balanced Ligand Binding of GLP-1R
Molecules
GLP-1R signaling
conformational dynamics
structural analyses
molecular dynamics simulation
title Exploring Conformational Transitions in Biased and Balanced Ligand Binding of GLP-1R
title_full Exploring Conformational Transitions in Biased and Balanced Ligand Binding of GLP-1R
title_fullStr Exploring Conformational Transitions in Biased and Balanced Ligand Binding of GLP-1R
title_full_unstemmed Exploring Conformational Transitions in Biased and Balanced Ligand Binding of GLP-1R
title_short Exploring Conformational Transitions in Biased and Balanced Ligand Binding of GLP-1R
title_sort exploring conformational transitions in biased and balanced ligand binding of glp 1r
topic GLP-1R signaling
conformational dynamics
structural analyses
molecular dynamics simulation
url https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/30/15/3216
work_keys_str_mv AT marcxu exploringconformationaltransitionsinbiasedandbalancedligandbindingofglp1r
AT horstvogel exploringconformationaltransitionsinbiasedandbalancedligandbindingofglp1r
AT shuguangyuan exploringconformationaltransitionsinbiasedandbalancedligandbindingofglp1r