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Unveiling the Activation Mechanism of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor by an Ago-Allosteric Modulator via Molecular Dynamics Simulations
School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 60 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637551, Singapore.ORCID iD: 0009-0007-1834-2577
Viva Biotech (Shanghai) Limited, 735 Ziping Road, Pudong New District, Shanghai 201318, P. R. China.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-1497-7993
KTH, School of Engineering Sciences (SCI), Applied Physics, Biophysics. KTH, Centres, Science for Life Laboratory, SciLifeLab.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0828-3899
School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 60 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637551, Singapore.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-2499-026X
2026 (English)In: Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling, ISSN 1549-9596, E-ISSN 1549-960X, Vol. 66, no 7, p. 4161-4173Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) is a key therapeutic target for metabolic disorders, particularly type 2 diabetes and obesity. Although current treatments are effective, their unavoidable side effects continue to drive the search for novel therapeutic strategies. Ago-allosteric modulators (ago-PAMs), which act as agonists on their own while enhancing the affinity and efficacy of orthosteric agonists, represent a promising avenue to overcome limitations associated with traditional peptide-based therapies. However, the molecular mechanisms by which ago-PAMs modulate GLP-1R activation remain poorly understood. In this work, we selected compound 2, a validated ago-PAM of GLP-1R, as a probe to explore these mechanisms at the atomic level. Using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we elucidate how compound 2 stabilizes the active conformation of GLP-1R through allosteric binding and reveal distinct pathways by which it enhances the binding of both peptide and non-peptide orthosteric agonists. Enhanced sampling simulations further provided a comprehensive conformational landscape of GLP-1R activation, identifying two intermediate states that bridge inactive and active conformations. Compound 2 was found to bias the receptor toward active-like ensembles, consistent with its intrinsic agonist activity. Together, our findings provide mechanistic insights into ago-allosteric modulation of GLP-1R, offering useful information for the rational design of small-molecule modulators with improved therapeutic profiles.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
American Chemical Society (ACS) , 2026. Vol. 66, no 7, p. 4161-4173
National Category
Molecular Biology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-380507DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.6c00224ISI: 001723646300001PubMedID: 41879197Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105035629795OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-380507DiVA, id: diva2:2056665
Note

QC 20260430

Available from: 2026-04-30 Created: 2026-04-30 Last updated: 2026-04-30Bibliographically approved

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Delemotte, Lucie

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Chen, YueLi, JunhaoDelemotte, LucieMu, Yuguang
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