Frontiers in Endocrinology (May 2021)

GRK Inhibition Potentiates Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Action

  • Seunghun P. Lee,
  • Jenson Qi,
  • Guozhang Xu,
  • Matthew M. Rankin,
  • James Littrell,
  • June Zhi Xu,
  • Ivona Bakaj,
  • Alessandro Pocai

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2021.652628
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12

Abstract

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The glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) is a G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) whose activation results in suppression of food intake and improvement of glucose metabolism. Several receptor interacting proteins regulate the signaling of GLP-1R such as G protein-coupled receptor kinases (GRK) and β-arrestins. Here we evaluated the physiological and pharmacological impact of GRK inhibition on GLP-1R activity leveraging small molecule inhibitors of GRK2 and GRK3. We demonstrated that inhibition of GRK: i) inhibited GLP-1-mediated β-arrestin recruitment, ii) enhanced GLP-1-induced insulin secretion in isolated islets and iii) has additive effect with dipeptidyl peptidase 4 in mediating suppression of glucose excursion in mice. These findings highlight the importance of GRK to modulate GLP-1R function in vitro and in vivo. GRK inhibition is a potential therapeutic approach to enhance endogenous and pharmacologically stimulated GLP-1R signaling.

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