Naturally occurring variants of the dysglycemic peptide pancreastatin: Differential potencies for multiple cellular functions and structure-function correlation

Background: Pancreastatin is a potent physiological regulator of plasma glucose/insulin. Results: We discovered two human variants of pancreastatin that are profoundly more potent than the wild-type peptide. Conclusion: Higher potencies of the variants correlate well with their enhanced propensity to adopt longer helical structures than the wild-type peptide. Significance: These findings provide new insights into the mechanism of human metabolic diseases. © 2014 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc..