Amylin (or IAPP) is a 37-amino-acid peptide that pancreatic beta cells co-secrete with insulin. It acts on receptors formed by the calcitonin receptor associated with receptor activity-modifying proteins (RAMPs), with important effects in the area postrema of the brainstem, a region involved in satiety.
Native human amylin has a practical problem: it tends to form amyloid aggregates, which makes it hard to use as a drug. That is why stable analogues were developed. Cagrilintide is a long-acting amylin analogue (lipidated to bind to albumin) that acts on amylin and calcitonin receptors.
Its current interest lies in combination with GLP-1 agonists: the two pathways regulate food intake through complementary mechanisms, and the cagrilintide + semaglutide combination is being investigated in large-scale clinical programmes.
Amylin represents a metabolic pathway distinct from the incretins. Understanding it explains why cagrilintide is studied mainly in combination rather than as a substitute for a GLP-1 agonist.
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Learn it in depth at the Peptide University
- Amylin, the oral route and the next generation · Module 3
- Metabolic and repair (1–5) · Module 14
- Pharmacology of agonists: single, dual and triple · Module 3
- Physical degradation: aggregation and adsorption · Module 11
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Definition for educational and scientific purposes. It is not medical advice or a recommendation for use. NeoPeptidos products are sold labelled for research use only (RUO).