Venoms being studied to treat MS
Venoms being studied to treat MS
Scorpions, snakes, snails, frogs and other creatures are thought to produce tens or even hundreds of millions of distinct venoms. These venoms have been honed to strike specific targets in the body...Read more - http://www.ms-uk.org/MSnews
MS-UK - http://www.ms-uk.org/
- lyndacarol
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Re: Venoms being studied to treat MS
35 years ago a neighbor with MS tried cobra venom – to no avail. Similarly, people have tried bee sting venom. Forgive me if I am skeptical about this line of thinking. On the other hand, I would be very glad to have my skepticism proven to be unjustified.MSUK wrote:Scorpions, snakes, snails, frogs and other creatures are thought to produce tens or even hundreds of millions of distinct venoms. These venoms have been honed to strike specific targets in the body...Read more - http://www.ms-uk.org/MSnews
The aim in this initial, proof-of-principle project was to find venoms that block a potassium ion-channel protein known as Kv1.3. Ion channels allow charged molecules to flow in and out of cells, and are involved in a variety of essential biological functions — which makes them common targets of venoms. Kv1.3 is of special interest to the pharmaceutical industry because it appears to facilitate the proliferation and migration of T-cells that drive inflammatory disorders such as multiple sclerosis. Drugs that block Kv1.3 are already under development.
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In this way, the team soon identified 27 likely Kv1.3-blocking venoms. All but two turned out to be known blockers of the ion channel. Another had been reported in the literature as a suspected potassium-channel blocker, and the last, an uncharacterized scorpion venom called CllTx1, proved in subsequent traditional-method testing—using actual venom extracted from a scorpion—to be a potent Kv1.3 blocker.
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