BioCentury
ARTICLE | Translation in Brief

Ghrelin’s LEAP forward

How LEAP2 could become a new target for metabolic diseases

December 14, 2017 3:08 AM UTC

NGM and MedImmune researchers have discovered a liver peptide, LEAP2, that is a natural antagonist of the metabolic target ghrelin. The peptide could serve as a new handle for either boosting or dampening ghrelin signaling to treat a variety of metabolic conditions ranging from diabetes and obesity to cachexia.

The results are the most recent fruit of a 2013 partnership between the MedImmune LLC unit of AstraZeneca plc (LSE:AZN; NYSE:AZN) and NGM Biopharmaceuticals Inc. to learn more about the hormones involved in the regulation of metabolism and glucose homeostasis...