The transcriptional coregulator OCA-B promotes expression of T cell target genes in cases of repeated antigen exposure, a necessary feature of autoimmunity. We hypothesized that T cell–specific OCA-B deletion and pharmacologic OCA-B inhibition would protect mice from autoimmune diabetes. We developed an Ocab conditional allele and backcrossed it onto a diabetes-prone NOD/ShiLtJ strain background. T cell–specific OCA-B loss protected mice from spontaneous disease. Protection was associated with large reductions in islet CD8+ T cell receptor specificities associated with diabetes pathogenesis. CD4+ clones associated with diabetes were present but associated with anergic phenotypes. The protective effect of OCA-B loss was recapitulated using autoantigen-specific NY8.3 mice but diminished in monoclonal models specific to artificial or neoantigens. Rationally designed membrane-penetrating OCA-B peptide inhibitors normalized glucose levels and reduced T cell infiltration and proinflammatory cytokine expression in newly diabetic NOD mice. Together, the results indicate that OCA-B is a potent autoimmune regulator and a promising target for pharmacologic inhibition.
An efficient stereoselective synthesis of alpha-(2-->9)-tetrasialic acid was achieved using tri-O-chloroacetyl-derivatized sialyl donor and a triol sialyl acceptor. Both the acceptor and the donor were also protected with a cyclic 5-N-4-O-carbonyl protecting group. The donor is highly reactive and enabled alpha-selective sialylation with various primary, secondary, and tertiary acceptors under in situ activation conditions (NIS/TfOH, -78 degrees C, acetonitrile/dichloromethane). The trans-fused oxazolidinone ring and O-chloroacetyl protecting groups were easily removed under mild reaction conditions to provide the fully deprotected alpha(2-->9)-tetrasialic acid.
Background:Fenugreek is an edible plant used to treat diabetes and other disorders. Results: We isolated a new structure in fenugreek that enhances glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) potency.
Conclusion:The antidiabetic plant fenugreek is a rich source of GLP-1 activity-enhancing compounds. Significance: GLP-1 peptide is a target for new drug screening and drug safety studies.
Insulin derivatives such as insulin detemir and insulin degludec are U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved long-acting insulin currently used by millions of people with diabetes. These derivatives are modified in C-terminal B29 lysine to retain insulin bioactivity. New and efficient methods for facile synthesis of insulin derivatives may lead to new discovery of therapeutic insulin. Herein, we report a new method using sortase A (SrtA)-mediated ligation for the synthesis of insulin derivatives with high efficiency and functional group tolerance in the C-terminal B chain. This new insulin molecule (Ins-SA) with an SrtA-recognizing motif can be conjugated to diverse groups with N-terminal oligoglycines to generate new insulin derivatives. We further demonstrated that a new insulin derivative synthesized by this SrtA-mediated ligation shows strong cellular and
in vivo
bioactivity. This enzymatic method can therefore be used for future insulin design and development.
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