Venoms being studied to treat MS

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MSUK
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Venoms being studied to treat MS

Post by MSUK »

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
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lyndacarol
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Re: Venoms being studied to treat MS

Post by lyndacarol »

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
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.
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.

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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