New and Improved Deadly Snail Venom

SoyChemist writes "In 2004, the FDA approved the cone snail venom ziconotide (Prialt) for the treatment of chronic pain. It is only used for severe cases because it must be injected directly into the spinal column. This month, researchers from the University of Utah have reported the discovery of a new snail venom with a completely different amino acid sequence. Because it very selectively attaches to and blocks nerve signals by binding to a particular type of acetylcholine receptor without causing any collateral damage, the newly discovered venom could also become a fantastic medical tool."

Comments

Cone snails

[BWJones]

You really should see these snails hunt and eat fish .

Some years ago, I spent a bit of time in Toto Olivera's lab (the guy who pioneered all of the conotoxin research) and it was amazing to watch these snails follow, track and eventually harpoon and eat fish in the aquarium. It turns out that the poison these snails use is a complex cocktail of peptides and small molecules that act on a variety of protein channels with implications for everything from the pain mentioned in the article to anesthesia to anti-convulsants.

Re:Cone snails

[makuabob]

You really should see these snails hunt and eat fish.

Yes, indeed! I lived in Hawaii for several years, was a SCUBA-diving shell collector and kept two aquaria--one with Textile cones (a molluscivore, i.e., eats other snails) and one with Striated cones (a piscivore). (Had to keep 'em apart, for obvious reasons.)

One Striated cone in my aquarium eventually learned that it was in a closed area. Normally, these fish-killers 'spear' their food and hold on to the barbed, radular tooth (through which the vemon is injected) until the fish is paralyzed (two or three seconds), then draw the prey into their extended, enveloping stomach. After that, they dig into the sand and digest for a couple of weeks; if they're lucky, they don't get eaten in turn by an Eagle Ray,... or one of those Textile cones mentioned above.

So, anyway, this one Striated cone quit holding onto the 'spear' once it hit the fish and, instead, would stroll around the aquarium until it found its meal! (In an embarassing faux pas, it once shot a dart through its own siphon and spent a couple of minutes trying to eat itself !)

Be glad these things aren't crawling around your garden; one shot from these could be your last! They are not too shy to defend themselves. Every year there are fatalities in the topical islands where some of the most venomous and aggressive varieties live.

Re:Works faster than nerves conduct?

[fishthegeek]

That was Jurassic Park.

[about the poison on the darts in their guns]
Eddie Carr: The most powerful neurotoxin in the world. It works faster than the nerve conduction velocity, which means the animal's down before it actually feels the - P! - prick of the dart.
Dr. Ian Malcolm: Is there an antidote?
Eddie Carr: What, like if you shot yourself in the foot? Don't do that, you would be dead before you even knew you had an accident.

According to this article http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcg i?artid=25694 the effect of the venom is merely "near instantaneous" as opposed to the faster claim of Eddie Carr.

Re:Works faster than nerves conduct?

[Ihlosi]

Is there truth to this, or is it totally false?

There is some truth to this. In many cases, victims of these snails don't realize that they've been stung. However, this has nothing to do with the poison, but with the injury being really minor.

ACH Receptor blockers have a lot of potentials

[einhverfr]

as antitoxins as well.

The most famous ACH receptor blocker is atropine (a poison itself derived originally from Atropa belladonna). This particular characteristic of atropine is why it is used to treat poisoning of several classes of poisons including Cholinesterase inhibitors (which include all current forms of chemical weapon nerve agents and a number of pesticides as well), muscarine (such as from certain forms of mushroom poisoning, f. ex. aminita muscaria) and the like.

Of course anything that touches the ACH cycle in the nerve is likely to be potentially deadly...

I would like to try this.

[pair-a-noyd]

I live in constant, extreme pain 24 hours a day from a broken spine.
The break was repaired by spinal fusion and titanium hardware but I got ZERO pain relief from the surgery.
If anyone else had to live with the pain I live with, they would commit suicide before the end of the first day.

My surgeon told me to "just get over it".. I'm now at the point that I would gladly allow a doctor to severe the nerves so that I would lose all feeling from my neck down. Even if it left me paralyzed it would be worth it, just to stop hurting.
My problem is is that I can't work, don't have insurance, income, or anything else.
I don't qualify for assistance because I was self employed for too many years.

If some doctor would like to try this snail stuff out on me, I volunteer. I can't tolerate the pain anymore.