Researchers at Yale have identified a protein from tarantula venom that can be used to treat pain.
The scientists screened over 100 potential toxins to find one protein from Peruvian green velvet tarantula that blocks pain transmitting neurons.
The screening technique used in the study has the potential to quickly search millions of similar pain-killing toxins. They call the latest process, "toxineering."
"The beauty of the system is we can also screen engineered toxins not found in nature, and identify higher-potency and more specific molecular variants that lack deleterious effects on essential nerve functions,'' Michael Nitabach, associate professor of cellular and molecular physiology and of genetics, and senior author of the paper.
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and is published in the journal Current Biology.
Previous research has shown that spider toxins are a useful tool for exploring how ion channels work.
For the study, researchers searched over 100 potential toxins from several tarantula species. They found one that blocked TRPA1, which is an ion channel present on pain-sensing neurons. The ion channel is associated with pain and inflammation.
"The likelihood is that within the vast diversity of spider toxins we will find others that are active against other channels important for pain," said Nitabach in a news release.
In the next part of the study, Nitabach and colleagues will be testing thousands of similar toxins that could be used to treat pain.
Other researchers, too, are looking at venomous creatures in their quest of finding better, safer painkillers. Recently, France's Institute of Pharmocologie Moleculaire and Cellulaire researchers found proteins in the venom of the black mamba snake can eliminate pain with the same potency as morphine.