We are proud to announce that the novel technology licensed by GPER G-1 Development Group, a New Mexico Start-Up Factory II Portfolio Company, has recently been published by Science Translational Medicine and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
GPER-G-1 is a drug development company with the primary goal of advancing novel drug candidates discovered at the University of New Mexico (UNM). Currently identified indications for the drug candidates include obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, kidney diseases, fibrosis and bacterial infection.
The manuscript titled “Preclinical efficacy of the first-in-class GPER-selective agonist Tespria in mouse models of obesity and diabetes,” was written by Distinguished Professor of Internal Medicine and Chief of the Division of Molecular Medicine, Eric Prossnitz. This publication highlights the recent discovery of the novel G protein-coupled Estrogen Receptor (GPER) as a novel therapeutic target for obesity and diabetes.
PRECLINICAL EFFICACY OF THE GPER-SELECTIVE AGONIST G-1 IN MOUSE MODELS OF OBESITY AND DIABETES
Mimicking estrogen to target metabolism
Estrogen is known to have positive effects on obesity and metabolism. Here, Sharma et al. show that a small-molecule agonist of one of estrogen’s receptors, the G protein–coupled estrogen receptor (GPER), may have a similar, but more targeted potential as a therapeutic in metabolic disease. In ovariectomized mice, a model of postmenopausal obesity, G-1 agonist treatment increased energy expenditure and had beneficial effects on weight, adiposity, metabolism, and inflammation. However, unlike traditional estrogen replacement therapy, GPER agonism did not affect bone density or result in uterine feminizing effects. G-1 also elicited weight loss in ovariectomized mice on a high-fat diet and prevented weight gain in obese male mice.
Science Translational Medicine 29 Jan 2020:
Vol. 12, Issue 528, eaau5956
DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aau5956
Copyright © 2020 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)