University of Copenhagen researcher Bea Ramiro began studying the sea snail Conus rolani in the waters
Today a medicine based on the venom of the Conus snailmagus is already available on the medical market. It is used for back injuries and in the treatment of cancer. However, the price of the drug is high, and the method of its use is complicated; the drug must be administered into the central nervous system, for example, through a spinal implant. The team behind the new study hopes the discovery of a new toxin from the Conus rolani snails will help them develop a more effective and easier-to-use painkiller.
Scientists have obtained sea snail venom and separated iton different components to see which ones have an effect on mice. Researchers have created synthetic "twins" for more than 100 toxins found in sea snail venom. They subsequently took an X-ray of the toxin, which showed potential. “We could see that the structure of the toxin from the sea snail venom resembles somatostatin, a hormone that regulates the sensation of pain in the human body. This suggests that the toxin may have a similar effect,” says Helena Safavi, Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen.
“I was surprised that the toxin was so effective and that it lasted longer than morphine,” Safavi added.
Conus rolani lives at a depth of 210 metersoff the coast of Cebu in the Philippines. This species is just one of over 800 species of sea snails, most of which use venom to hunt. The hunting strategy of Conus rolani is more efficient than other species. Having poisoned its prey with poison, the snail waits patiently. The poison begins to act, and after three hours the victim becomes inactive, then the snail catches it with its toothless mouth. A weakened fish cannot resist and injure the hunter. A similar strategy exists in rattlesnakes and vipers, but researchers are seeing it for the first time in a snail.
Not only sea snails inspireresearchers to develop new drugs, says Helena Safavi. “There is a fairly common drug on the market called Capoten, used to treat high blood pressure, and it is based on snake venom,” she explains. “We can learn a lot from nature. And this makes sense, because nature has had millions of years to perfect, for example, sedative poisons, when we have been doing this for only a couple of hundred years. Therefore, nature offers us a shortcut."
Read more:
"James Webb" took the clearest photo of a star in history
Developments of Moscow radiologists on AI became the basis of federal standards
Quantum charging will allow record-breaking fast charging of electric vehicles