Anti-obesity agents

1. A compound comprising a peptide moiety and a Michael acceptor (MA) moiety, the MA moiety being capable of reacting with an amino group, a hydroxyl group or a thiol group on a blood protein so as to form a stable covalent bond, therewith, wherein the compound is of the formula:

X 1 -X 2 Pro Glu Ala Pro Gly Glu Asp Ala Ser Pro Glu Glu Leu Asn Arg Tyr Tyr Ala Ser Leu Arg His Tyr Leu Asn Leu Val Thr Arg Gln Arg X 3 (SEQ ID NO:22)

wherein

X 1 is ile, ile(N-MA) or ile(N-linking group-MA);

X 2 is lys or lys(N ε -linking group-MA);

X 3 is tyr or a tyr derivative of formula

where

R 1 is H, a protecting group (PG), a C 1 -C 10 branched, linear or cyclic alkyl, a phosphate or a sulfate;

R 2 and R 3 are same or different and selected from the group consisting of H, D and I; and

R 4 is OH, OPG, OR 5 , SH, SPG (sulfur protecting group), SR 5 , NH 2 , NHPG, N(PG) 2 , N(R 5 ) 2 ,NR 5 PG, or NHR 6 , where R 5 is a C 1 -C 10 branched, linear or cyclic alkyl, and R 6 is a solid phase support; and wherein

X 1 is ile(N-MA) or ile(N-linking group-MA) when X 2 is lys; and X 2 is lys(N ε -linking group-MA) when X 1 is ile.

2. The compound of claim 1 , wherein X 1 is ile (N-MA) and X 2 is lys.

3. The compound of claim 1 , wherein X 1 is ile (N-linking group-MA) and X 2 is lys.

4. The compound of claim 1 , wherein X 1 is ile and X 2 is lys(N ε -linking group-MA).

5. The compound of any one of claims 1 - 4 , wherein said Michael acceptor is a maleimido-containing group.

6. The compound of claim 5 , wherein said maleimido-containing group is maleimidopropionic acid.

7. The compound of any one of claims 1 - 4 , wherein said blood protein is albumin.

8. The compound of any one of claims 1 , 3 and 4 , wherein said linking group is selected from the group consisting of (2-amino) ethoxy acetic acid (AEA), ethylenediamine (EDA), amino ethoxy ethoxy succinimic acid (AEES), 2-[2-(2-amino)ethoxy] ethoxy acetic acid (AEEA), AEEA-AEEA, —NH 2 —(CH 2 ) n -COOH where n is an integer from 1 to 20; one or more alkyl chains (C 1 -C 10 ) saturated or unsaturated which optionally comprises oxygen, nitrogen or sulfur atoms motifs, glycine, 3-aminopropionic acid (APA), 8-aminooctanoic acid (OA), 4-aminobenzoic acid (APhA), and combinations thereof.

9. A conjugate formed by the reaction of a compound with a blood protein under conditions sufficient to form a stable covalent bond therewith, wherein the compound comprises a peptide moiety and a Michael acceptor (MA) moiety, wherein the MA moiety is coupled to an amino group, a hydroxyl group or a thiol group on said blood protein, and wherein the compound is of the formula:

X 1 -X 2 Pro Glu Ala Pro Gly Glu Asp Ala Ser Pro Glu Glu Leu Asn Arg Tyr Tyr Ala Ser Leu Arg His Tyr Leu Asn Leu Val Thr Arg Gln Arg X 3 (SEQ ID NO:22)

wherein

X 1 is ile, ile(N-MA) or ile(N-linking group-MA);

X 2 is lys or lys(N ε -linking group-MA);

X 3 is tyr or a tyr derivative of formula

where

R 1 is H, a protecting group (PG), a C 1 -C 10 branched, linear or cyclic alkyl, a phosphate or a sulfate;

R 2 and R 3 are same or different and selected from the group consisting of H, D and I; and

R 4 is OH, OPG, OR 5 , SH, SPG (sulfur protecting group), SR 5 , NH 2 , NHPG, N(PG) 2 , N(R 5 ) 2 , NR 5 PG, or NHR 6 , where R 5 is a C 1 -C 10 branched, linear or cyclic alkyl, and R 6 is a solid phase support;

X 1 is ile(N-MA) or ile(N-linking group-MA) when X 2 is lys; and

X 2 is lys(N ε -linking group-MA) when X 1 is ile.

10. The conjugate of claim 9 , wherein X 1 is ile(N-MA) and X 2 is lys.

11. The conjugate of claim 9 , wherein X 1 is ile(N-linking group-MA) and X 2 is lys.

12. The conjugate of claim 9 , wherein X 1 is ile and X 2 is lys(N ε -linking group-MA).

13. The conjugate of any one of claims 9 - 12 , wherein said Michael acceptor is a maleimido-containing.

14. The conjugate of claim 13 , wherein said maleimido-containing group is maleimidopropionic acid (MPA).

15. The conjugate of any one of claims 9 - 12 , wherein said blood protein is albumin.

16. The conjugate of claim 9 , 11 , or 12 , wherein said linking group is selected from the group consisting of (2-amino) ethoxy acetic acid (AEA), ethylenediamine (EDA), amino ethoxy ethoxy succinimic acid (AEES), 2-[2-(2-amino)ethoxy] ethoxy acetic acid (AEEA), AEEA-AEEA, —NH 2 —(CH 2 ) n —COOH where n is an integer from 1 to 20; one or more alkyl chains (C 1 -C 10 ) saturated or unsaturated which optionally comprises oxygen, nitrogen or sulfur atoms motifs, glycine, 3-aminopropionic acid (APA), 8-aminooctanoic acid (OA), 4-aminobenzoic acid (APhA), and combinations thereof.

17. The compound of any one of claims 1 - 4 wherein X 3 is tyr-CONH 2 .

18. The conjugate of any one of claims 9 - 12 wherein X 3 is tyr-CONH 2 .

19. The conjugate of claim 13 , wherein said blood protein is albumin, X 3 is tyr-CONH 2 , and said linking group is selected from the group consisting of (2-amino)ethoxy acetic acid (AEA), ethylenediamine (EDA), amino ethoxy ethoxy succinimic acid (AEES), 2-[2-(2-amino)ethoxy] ethoxy acetic acid (AEEA), AEEA-AEEA, —NH 2 —(CH 2 ) n —COOH where n is an integer from 1 to 20; one or more alkyl chains (C 1 -C 10 ) saturated or unsaturated which optionally comprises oxygen, nitrogen or sulfur atoms motifs, glycine, 3-aminopropionic acid (APA), 8-aminooxtanoic acid (OA), 4-aminobenzoic acid (APhA), and combinations thereof.

20. The conjugate of claim 14 , wherein said blood protein is albumin, X 3 is tyr-CONH 2 , and said linking group is selected from the group consisting of (2-amino)ethoxy acetic acid (AEA), ethylenediamine (EDA), amino ethoxy ethoxy succinimic acid (AEES), 2-[2-(2-amino)ethoxy] ethoxy acetic acid (AEEA), AEEA-AEEA, —NH 2 —(CH 2 ) n —COOH where n is an integer from 1 to 20; one or more alkyl chains (C 1 -C 10 ) saturated or unsaturated which optionally comprises oxygen, nitrogen or sulfur atoms motifs, glycine, 3-aminopropionic acid (APA), 8-aminooxtanoic acid (OA), 4-aminobenzoic acid (APhA), and combinations thereof.

21. The conjugate of claim 10 , wherein said blood protein is albumin, X 3 is tyr-CONH 2 , and said Michael acceptor is maleimidopropionic acid (MPA).

22. The conjugate of claim 11 , wherein said blood protein is albumin, X 3 is tyr-CONH 2 , and said Michael acceptor is maleimidopropionic acid (MPA), and said linking group is 8-aminooctanoic acid (OA).

23. The conjugate of claim 12 , wherein said blood protein is albumin, X 3 is tyr-CONH 2 , said Michael acceptor is maleimidopropionic acid (MPA), and said linking group is 8-aminooxtanoic acid (OA).

24. The compound of claim 6 , wherein said blood protein is albumin.

25. The compound of claim 7 , wherein said blood protein is albumin.

26. The compound of claim 10 , wherein the Michael acceptor is capable of being covalently linked to a thiol group at amino acid residue 34 (Cys34) on albumin.

27. The compound of claim 17 , wherein said blood protein is albumin.

28. The compound of claim 6 , wherein X 3 is tyr-CONH 2 .

29. The compound of claim 7 , wherein X 3 is tyr-CONH 2 .

30. The compound of claim 28 , wherein the blood protein is albumin.

31. The compound of claim 29 , wherein the blood protein is albumin.

32. The compound of claim 27 , wherein the Michael acceptor is capable of being covalently linked to a thiol group at amino acid residue 34 (Cys34) on albumin.

33. The conjugate of claim 13 , the blood protein is albumin.

34. The conjugate of claim 14 , the blood protein is albumin.

35. The conjugate of claim 15 , wherein the Michael acceptor moiety is covalently linked to a thiol group at amino acid residue 34 (Cys34) on albumin.

36. The compound of claim 1 , wherein the blood protein is a recombinant protein.

37. The compound of claim 7 , wherein the albumin is a recombinant protein.

38. The conjugate of claim 9 , wherein the blood protein is a recombinant protein.

39. The conjugate of claim 15 , wherein the albumin is a recombinant protein.