Deadly cone snail toxin brings new hope for diabetes drug development

Recently, an eye-catching research result was published online in the international academic journal "Nature Communications". Researchers at the University of Utah in the United States discovered a new toxin named "consomatin" in the deadly cone snail (cowry snail) venom, bringing new hope for the treatment of diabetes and hormonal disorders.

Cowry snails are marine carnivorous mollusks. Among them, the Conus geographus is extremely toxic, and the venom it secretes can cause death. The researchers found that during the predation process, in addition to using insulin-like toxins to quickly lower the blood sugar of prey, this cone snail also uses the newly discovered consomatin toxin to block the release of glucagon and aggravate the hypoglycemia symptoms of prey, thus capturing prey.

Dr. Helena Safavi, an associate professor at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah, pointed out that although looking for drugs from deadly venom may seem counterintuitive, the lethality of toxins usually works by precisely targeting specific molecules, and this precision may be very useful in treating diseases.

Studies have shown that compared with existing human somatostatin drugs, consomatin toxin has stronger specificity and can avoid unnecessary off-target effects. At the same time, it contains an unusual amino acid that makes it difficult to be decomposed and has a longer duration of drug effect.

Dr. Yan-Yang He, the first author of the paper, introduced that consomatin toxin only has a target effect on proteins that can regulate glucagon levels and does not affect other molecular levels. By studying the structure of consomatin, researchers hope to design drugs for regulating endocrine disorders with fewer side effects.

This discovery has attracted widespread attention in the scientific community and opened up a new direction for drug research and development for diseases such as diabetes. In the future, we look forward to the early availability of drugs based on this new toxin and bringing better treatment options for patients.