Conus geographus is a species of venomous sea snail that lives on the seafloor, and stuns and paralyzes its prey by releasing venom plumes. This allows the predatory cone snail to reach its prey by slithering through the slime, and eat it while it is still alive. A recent report says that the sea snail venom might be useful to diabetic patients as one of its molecules looks exceptionally similar to human insulin.
Further inspection has shown that venom insulin had a quicker response than human insulin. It usually takes half an hour for human insulin to take effect on the glucose levels of blood. On the other hand, the insulin in the sea snail's venom works instantaneously, impacting the blood sugar of the fish prey. Then the fish's blood sugar plummets, which causes its temporary paralysis.
Danny Hung-Chieh Chou, an assistant professor from the University of Utah Health and author of the study on the molecular components of the venom insulin, discovered that the sea snail's venom is significantly less potent than human insulin. Therefore, it cannot adequately replace the current synthetic insulins available in the market for diabetic patients.
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The team synthesized instead a type of combined insulin which incorporates the effects of human insulin and the fact-acting properties of the sea snail venom. The international team of researchers has reported that this developed hybrid, which they refer to as "mini-insulin" is the minutest but fully functional version of human insulin.
The researchers have tested the new synthetic insulin in rats and have discovered that it works just like human insulin but much faster. However, the mini-insulin is not yet available for humans any time soon. The next step is to conduct large animal trials of the fast-acting insulin. Chou and his co-authors are trying to study the effects of the new insulin on pigs.
The current insulin used by diabetic patients usually takes up about thirty minutes or longer to take effect and lower their blood sugar. This slow action might have significant long-term side effects on these patients, such as the risk of hyperglycemia and diabetes complications. With faster-acting insulin, diabetic people can have much better control of their blood sugar levels.
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The action of venom insulin uses a different form of mechanism. The researchers used structural biology and medicinal chemistry techniques to isolate four amino acids that help the cone snail insulin bind to the insulin receptors. These amino acids then allow each of the insulin molecules to link to the receptors in the red blood cells immediately.
Current synthetic insulins for diabetic patients, on the other hand, have a component that makes the proteins bundle together. After this, the pancreas has to break these clumps first before it can be sent back to the bloodstream and affect blood sugar levels. This lag takes a significant amount of time and can be risky for diabetic patients.
The team has used the cone snail insulin to overcome the present disadvantages by creating a hybrid that does not clump while binding the high potency of human insulin with the fast action of the sea snail insulin.
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