GLP-2: gut-healing hormone (Glucagon-like peptide 2)
A natural hormone released by the intestine after eating that promotes gut health and intestinal repair; studied alongside related hormones in next-generation obesity and diabetes drug research.
- Class
- Endogenous gut peptide (rat sequence)
- Status
- No approved therapeutic status identified in this card's source file
- Main caveat
- Single catalog-database source with rat sequence and one gene-sequencing reference; no functional, assay, animal-model, or human evidence present in source file
A researcher, an agent, or an algorithm wrote down the sequence and picked a target to hit.
An AI model like OpenFold3 or AlphaFold built a 3D structure and scored how well it fits the binding site.
A second contributor repeated the computation on their own hardware and the scores matched.
A chemistry service or a researcher ordered the sequence, it was manufactured, and mass spectrometry confirmed the right molecule was produced.
A binding or activity measurement confirmed that it actually does what the computer predicted — or didn't.
What this is
Glucagon-like peptide 2 (GLP-2) is a 35-amino-acid hormone released by intestinal L-cells after a meal. It is encoded within the same precursor protein — proglucagon — that gives rise to glucagon and GLP-1, meaning the three hormones share a common genetic origin but exert distinct effects on different tissues (Lafferty and colleagues 2021). In the context of incretin-based drug research, GLP-2 and its receptor are studied alongside GLP-1 and glucagon receptors as part of the proglucagon-derived peptide family.
History
The molecular basis of GLP-2 was established in 1984, when Heinrich and colleagues reported the rat pre-proglucagon gene sequence and showed that four of the gene's six exons each encode a separate functional domain — one of which encodes the GLP-2 region (Heinrich and colleagues 1984, Journal of Biological Chemistry). That work revealed that glucagon, GLP-1, and GLP-2 are all products of tissue-specific processing of a single precursor, with different tissues cleaving proglucagon at different sites to release different bioactive peptides. The broader therapeutic potential of the proglucagon-derived peptide family has been reviewed in the context of modern incretin-based drug development (Lafferty and colleagues 2021, Frontiers in Endocrinology).
What it does
GLP-2 is an intestinotropic hormone: its primary characterized role is supporting the growth and integrity of the intestinal epithelium. It is produced from proglucagon in the same L-cells of the gut that secrete GLP-1 in response to nutrient intake (Lafferty and colleagues 2021). As one of several proglucagon-derived peptides, it is studied in the context of the broader proglucagon system alongside glucagon and GLP-1 — particularly as next-generation obesity and metabolic drugs increasingly target multiple receptors within this family. The card's assigned target (GCGR, the glucagon receptor) reflects GLP-2's classification within the proglucagon-derived peptide group and its relevance to receptor-binding studies in incretin pharmacology research.
Evidence
- Human: GLP-2 has been characterized as an endogenous gut hormone produced by intestinal L-cells; its therapeutic analog teduglutide has clinical applications in short bowel syndrome, though that is a separate regulatory entity. The dossier's primary references cover the gene-level discovery of the proglucagon family and a 2021 review of proglucagon-derived peptides as therapeutics (Lafferty and colleagues 2021).
- Animal: The pre-proglucagon gene structure, from which GLP-2 is derived, was first characterized in rat (Heinrich and colleagues 1984). Species-comparative sequence data show high conservation of the GLP-2 region across mammals.
- In vitro: Not characterized in current card references.
▸full evidence table2 metrics
| metric | value | tool |
|---|---|---|
| ipTM | 0.7545347213745117 | openfold3-mlx |
| ranking score | 0.8222326636314392 | openfold3-mlx |
▸structural qualityopenfold3
| metric | value | note |
|---|---|---|
| gpde | 0.765 | global PDE — lower = better |
| disorder | 0.152 | fraction disordered |
| chain pair ipTM (A, B) | 0.755 | interface quality |
▸3-letter notation
▸recipeopenfold3-mlx 0.3.1
| parameter | value |
|---|---|
| model | openfold3-mlx 0.3.1 |
| weights | aedd8f3eb814e392… |
| hardware | apple_m4_base_16gb |
| mlx version | 0.31.1 |
| python | 3.14.3 |
| random seed | 42 |
| msa strategy | colabfold |
| diffusion samples | 1 |
| runtime | 459s |
| predicted by | mlx@peptide |
| predicted at | 2026-04-23 |
python3 openfold3/run_openfold.py predict --query_json {query.json} --runner_yaml examples/example_runner_yamls/mlx_runner.yml --output_dir {output_dir} --num_diffusion_samples 1 ▸citationbibtex
@peptide{pep10571,
sequence = {HADGSFSDEMNTILDNLATRDFINWLIQTKITDKK},
target = {gcgr},
author = {peptidemodel},
year = {2026},
status = {synthesized}
}