Scientists at Stanford Medicine identified a naturally occurring molecule called BRP that suppressed appetite and promoted fat loss in animal experiments, potentially offering advantages over semaglutide-based treatments like Ozempic.
Artificial intelligence accelerated the discovery. Researchers created an algorithm called Peptide Predictor that analyzed roughly 20,000 human genes to identify where a specific enzyme cuts prohormones into peptides. The algorithm narrowed 20,000 genes to 373 candidate prohormones and predicted 2,683 possible peptides. Testing 100 of these peptides in laboratory-grown nerve cells, researchers found that BRP increased neuronal activity tenfold compared with controls, outperforming GLP-1, the hormone that semaglutide mimics.
"The algorithm was absolutely key to our findings," said Katrin Svensson, assistant professor of pathology and senior author of the study published in Nature.
BRP differs from semaglutide in its mechanism. Semaglutide activates GLP-1 receptors distributed throughout the brain, gut, pancreas, and other tissues, causing widespread effects including nausea, constipation, and muscle loss. BRP appears to act more selectively on the hypothalamus, the brain region controlling appetite and metabolism.
In animal experiments, BRP showed promise. Lean mice and minipigs injected with BRP consumed up to 50% less food during the following hour. Obese mice receiving daily BRP injections for 14 days lost an average of 3 grams of body weight, primarily from fat rather than muscle, while untreated mice gained approximately 3 grams. Treated animals also showed improvements in glucose and insulin tolerance.
Svensson, who led the research with senior research scientist Laetitia Coassolo, has cofounded a company to advance BRP toward human clinical trials.