Abstract
High susceptibility to proteolytic degradation in the gastrointestinal tract limits the therapeutic application of peptide drugs in gastrointestinal disorders. Linaclotide is an orally administered peptide drug for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) and abdominal pain. Linaclotide is however degraded in the intestinal environment within 1 h, and improvements in gastrointestinal stability might enhance its therapeutic application. We therefore designed and synthesized a series of linaclotide analogues employing a variety of strategic modifications and evaluated their gastrointestinal stability and pharmacological activity at its target receptor guanylate cyclase-C. All analogues had substantial improvements in gastrointestinal half-lives (>8 h vs linaclotide 48 min), and most remained active at low nanomolar concentrations. This work highlights strategic approaches for the development of gut-stable peptides toward the next generation of orally administered peptide drugs for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders.