Lipo-oxytocin-1 (LOT-1) is a

synthetic Synthetic things are composed of multiple parts, often with the implication that they are artificial. In particular, 'synthetic' may refer to: Science * Synthetic chemical or compound, produced by the process of chemical synthesis * Synthetic o ...

peptide and derivative of

oxytocin Oxytocin (Oxt or OT) is a peptide hormone and neuropeptide normally produced in the hypothalamus and released by the posterior pituitary. It plays a role in social bonding, reproduction, childbirth, and the period after childbirth. Oxytocin ...

that acts as an

agonist An agonist is a chemical that activates a receptor to produce a biological response. Receptors are cellular proteins whose activation causes the cell to modify what it is currently doing. In contrast, an antagonist blocks the action of the ago ...

of the oxytocin receptor. The lipidation strategy was applied to oxytocin to create a new peptide with improved

pharmacokinetics Pharmacokinetics (from Ancient Greek ''pharmakon'' "drug" and ''kinetikos'' "moving, putting in motion"; see chemical kinetics), sometimes abbreviated as PK, is a branch of pharmacology dedicated to determining the fate of substances administered ...

. LOT-1 consists of oxytocin conjugated with two palmitoyl groups. After adjusting for molecular weight (LOT-1 is ~1.5x the weight of oxytocin), oxytocin and LOT-1 are equipotent. In addition, LOT-1 appears to have a significantly longer

duration Duration may refer to: * The amount of time elapsed between two events * Duration (music) – an amount of time or a particular time interval, often cited as one of the fundamental aspects of music * Duration (philosophy) – a theory of time and ...

of effect relative to that of oxytocin. It has yet to be determined whether LOT-1 possesses improved blood-brain-barrier permeability relative to oxytocin.

References

Oxytocin receptor agonists Peptides {{pharmacology-stub

See also

References