The term "hybrid" in biology is defined as "the offspring of two plants or animals of different species or varieties, such as a mule, which is a hybrid of a donkey and a horse. Other examples of hybrids are "a hybrid of wheat and rye," a thing made by combining two different elements, a mixture of elements, such as a word formed from elements taken from different languages, for example television (tele- from Greek, vision from Latin), or a car made by a combination of two different engines, such as a gasoline engine and an electric motor, called a hybrid car. Another example is "a hybrid between a brown and an albino mouse." However, in the case of
peptides, a fusion of amino acid sequences originating from different peptides can produce hybrid peptides with multiple-acting properties. Many examples of hybrid peptides and their actions can be found in the recent scientific literature. One example is listed here. Gault et al. in 2013 showed that the fusion of amino acid sequences from Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), and glucagon produces hybrid peptides with triple-acting agonist activity. To refresh your mind, an agonist is a substance or molecule that initiates a physiological response when combined with a receptor. The individual peptides, GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon are known to be important, potent regulators of glucose metabolism in mammals and humans. The researchers showed in the cited paper that hybrid peptides possess beneficial biological actions that are equivalent or superior to the actions of the individual peptides. Furthermore, they suggested that this type of multi-targeting peptides may offer a new class of therapeutics for obesity and diabetes. In addition, other types of hybrid peptides may allow targeting different important regulatory molecules as well. Hopefully, this will lead to better therapeutic options in the future.
Reference
Victor A. Gault, Vikas K. Bhat, Nigel Irwin1, and Peter R. Flatt; A Novel Glucagon-like Peptide-1 (GLP-1)/Glucagon Hybrid Peptide with Triple-acting Agonist Activity at Glucose-dependent Insulinotropic Polypeptide, GLP-1, and Glucagon Receptors and Therapeutic Potential in High Fat-fed Mice. THE JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY VOL. 288, NO. 49, pp. 35581-35591, December 6, 2013.