Seong-Bin Yang

Background: Fatty liver disease and obesity are among the most prevalent health conditions in modern society and have recently garnered significant attention. Semaglutide, a well-known anti-obesity drug, has been widely used for diabetes and obesity treatment; however, nanotherapeutics utilizing semaglutide have not yet been developed. Methods: A novel statin–lipid conjugate was synthesized using rosuvastatin and ursodeoxycholic acid, a liver-protective agent. This conjugate was then formulated with semaglutide through hydrophobic interactions to create a new nanoparticle system. The physicochemical properties of the nanoparticles were analyzed, and their therapeutic efficacy was evaluated in a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced animal model. Results: The statin–lipid conjugate was successfully synthesized, forming novel nanoparticles with semaglutide in an aqueous solution. These nanoparticles exhibited distinct properties compared to conventional semaglutide formulations. In animal experiments, the treatment group demonstrated a 30.24% reduction in body weight and a 46.80% improvement in liver function markers compared to the control group. Conclusions: This study introduces a novel semaglutide-based nanoparticle (SRLC NP) system that overcomes key limitations of conventional semaglutide therapy by providing enhanced bioavailability, extended circulation time, and improved cellular uptake. These findings highlight the potential of SRLC NPs as a clinically translatable nanotherapeutic approach for more effective, sustained, and patient-friendly obesity and fatty liver disease treatment.

Numerous cathepsin B inhibitors have been developed and are under investigation as potential cancer treatments. They have been evaluated for their ability to inhibit cathepsin B activity and reduce tumor growth. However, they have shown critical limitations, including low anticancer efficacy and high toxicity, due to their low selectivity and delivery problems. In this study, we developed a novel peptide and drug conjugate (PDC)-based cathepsin B inhibitor using cathepsin-B-specific peptide (RR) and bile acid (BA). Interestingly, this RR and BA conjugate (RR–BA) was able to self-assemble in an aqueous solution, and as a result, it formed stable nanoparticles. The nano-sized RR–BA conjugate showed significant cathepsin B inhibitory effects and anticancer effects against mouse colorectal cancer (CT26) cells. Its therapeutic effect and low toxicity were also confirmed in CT26 tumor-bearing mice after intravenous injection. Therefore, based on these results, the RR–BA conjugate could be developed as an effective anticancer drug candidate for inhibiting cathepsin B in anticancer therapy.

With rapidly growing knowledge in bioinformatics related to peptides and proteins, amino acid-based drug-design strategies have recently gained importance in pharmaceutics. In the past, peptide-based biomedicines were not widely used due to the associated severe physiological problems, such as low selectivity and rapid degradation in biological systems. However, various interesting peptide-based therapeutics combined with drug-delivery systems have recently emerged. Many of these candidates have been developed for anticancer therapy that requires precisely targeted effects and low toxicity. These research trends have become more diverse and complex owing to nanomedicine and antibody–drug conjugates (ADC), showing excellent therapeutic efficacy. Various newly developed peptide–drug conjugates (PDC), peptide-based nanoparticles, and prodrugs could represent a promising therapeutic strategy for patients. In this review, we provide valuable insights into rational drug design and development for future pharmaceutics.

Heparin has been extensively studied as a safe medicine and biomolecule over the past few decades. Heparin derivatives, including low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWH) and heparin pentasaccharide, are effective anticoagulants currently used in clinical settings. They have also been studied as functional biomolecules or biomaterials for various therapeutic uses to treat diseases. Heparin, which has a similar molecular structure to heparan sulfate, can be used as a remarkable biomedicine due to its uniquely high safety and biocompatibility. In particular, it has recently drawn attention for use in drug-delivery systems, biomaterial-based tissue engineering, nanoformulations, and new drug-development systems through molecular formulas. A variety of new heparin-based biomolecules and conjugates have been developed in recent years and are currently being evaluated for use in clinical applications. This article reviews heparin derivatives recently studied in the field of drug development for the treatment of various diseases.