Saturday 12 May 2012

What Do Marine Snails and Insulin Have in Common? New Approach to Treat Diabetes?



ScienceDaily (May 10, 2012) — The cone snails are predators of the sea. They capture fish by injecting a venom into the prey that consists of a cocktail of different substances. The single components of the snails' venom, so-called conopeptides, are known for their extraordinary pharmacological properties and potential.

One example is Ziconotid (Prialt), a conopeptide that is prescribed as a pain medicine. That makes it one of the first medicines to contain substances from marine organisms. In collaboration with scientists from Canada and the USA, research teams at the Universities of Kiel, Lübeck, and Göttingen have examined the venom of the cone snail Conus striatus. They were able to demonstrate that a certain peptide (Conkunitzin-S1) alters the release of insulin in the pancreas cells. Their findings were recently published in the scientific magazine EMBO Molecular Medicine.

"This potentially could be a new approach to the treatment of type 2 diabetes," says Professor Heinrich Terlau from the Physiological Institute of Kiel University and associate member of the Excellence Cluster "Future Ocean." "The action of some substances that are ordinarily used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes is independent of the blood glucose level," Terlau describes. This can lead to low blood glucose, also known as hypoglycemia. "What is new about this substance is that it has a very specific effect. Because of this fact, the likelihood of side effects such as hypoglycemia is minimal," Terlau continues.


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