Spider Venoms now a Possible Painkiller, Scientists Say
Edzel Jonas S. Salonga
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The Filipino Watchdog 7:53 PM | Wednesday, March 25th, 2015
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University of Queensland (UQ) research team recently found compounds in spider venom and would motivate a new class of painkillers with less side effects than existing medications.
Peptides in spider venom have been exposed to block the molecular pathway in charge for sending pain signals from nerves to the human brain.
The research team from UQ's Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) analyzed the venom from 205 spider species and found that 40 percent of the venoms contained at least one peptide that barren the human proteins known as voltage-gated sodium channels which take part the key role in pain transmission. Blocking this channel could potentially make easy to us, to switch off pain in people with normal pain pathways.
A system was built so that it can allowed the rapidly analyse a huge number of venom peptides in order to search for those with the potential to block.
Importantly, of the seven promising peptides in identifying, discovering one that had the right structure, stability and potency to form the basis of a future painkiller.
To continue exploring the clinical potential of these peptides and the ones are still yet to find in the hope of developing better treatments for the one in five Australians living with persistent pain.
Dr Julie KaaeKlint, a former IMB postdoctoral researcher and current research associate at Evotec, said “spider venom peptides had evolved to help spiders immobilise or kill their prey”.
A conservative estimate indicates that there are 9 million spider venom peptides contained within the venoms of the world's 45,000 known spider species, and only 0.01 per cent of this vast pharmacological landscape has been explored so far.
The study was supported by funding from the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council, and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health.
Peptides in spider venom have been exposed to block the molecular pathway in charge for sending pain signals from nerves to the human brain.
The research team from UQ's Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) analyzed the venom from 205 spider species and found that 40 percent of the venoms contained at least one peptide that barren the human proteins known as voltage-gated sodium channels which take part the key role in pain transmission. Blocking this channel could potentially make easy to us, to switch off pain in people with normal pain pathways.
A system was built so that it can allowed the rapidly analyse a huge number of venom peptides in order to search for those with the potential to block.
Importantly, of the seven promising peptides in identifying, discovering one that had the right structure, stability and potency to form the basis of a future painkiller.
To continue exploring the clinical potential of these peptides and the ones are still yet to find in the hope of developing better treatments for the one in five Australians living with persistent pain.
Dr Julie KaaeKlint, a former IMB postdoctoral researcher and current research associate at Evotec, said “spider venom peptides had evolved to help spiders immobilise or kill their prey”.
A conservative estimate indicates that there are 9 million spider venom peptides contained within the venoms of the world's 45,000 known spider species, and only 0.01 per cent of this vast pharmacological landscape has been explored so far.
The study was supported by funding from the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council, and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health.