{"id":8955,"date":"2024-10-04T11:03:52","date_gmt":"2024-10-04T15:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=8955"},"modified":"2024-10-04T11:03:52","modified_gmt":"2024-10-04T15:03:52","slug":"pharmacology-venomous-crustacean-from-mayan-underwater-caves-provides-new-drug-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=8955","title":{"rendered":"Pharmacology: Venomous Crustacean from Mayan Underwater Caves Provides New Drug Candidates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zootoxins affect a wide range of physiological processes and are therefore of great interest for drug research.<\/strong>\u00a0An international study<\/a> led by Bj\u00f6rn von Reumont of Goethe University Frankfurt has identified novel toxins from the cave-dwelling underwater crustacean\u00a0Xibalbanus tulumensis<\/em>\u00a0that inhibit various ion channels.<\/em>\u00a0The discovery opens up promising pharmacological applications. The species is found exclusively in the cenote caves that were once sacred to the Maya.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Entrance to a cenote: Cenotes were once sacred to the Maya, as the karst caves were considered the entrance to the divine underworld. Photo: Bj\u00f6rn M. von Reumont<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Many animals use venoms for self-defense or hunting. The components of such venom, known as toxins, interfere with various physiological processes \u2013 which is also the reason why they are so interesting for the development of new pharmacological agents. While the venoms of some animal groups \u2013 including snakes, spiders, scorpions and insects \u2013 have already been quite well studied, the situation is entirely different for marine animal groups. Here, data exists only for individual animal species, meaning this group still holds great untapped potential.<\/p>\n

It was only discovered a few years ago that there also exist venomous crustaceans, i.e. remipedes that look more like centipedes and live in marine underwater caves. A multidisciplinary research team led by Dr. Bj\u00f6rn von Reumont, who first described the venom system in remipedes in 2014 and is currently a guest researcher at Goethe University Frankfurt, has now characterized a group of toxins from the\u00a0Xibalbanus tulumensis\u00a0<\/em>remipede.<\/p>\n

Dive in the cenotes: The researchers collect the underwater crab Xibalbanus tulumensis, which only occurs here. Photo: Bj\u00f6rn M. von Reumont<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To that end, Reumont put together a team consisting of cooperation partners from Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine (ITMP) within the framework of the LOEWE Center for Translational Biodiversity, as well as colleagues from the University of Leuven, from Cologne, Berlin and Munich \u2013 all of them also part of the European Venom Network (COST Action EUVEN).<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Xibalbanus tulumensis<\/em>\u00a0remipede lives in the cenotes which are the underwater cave systems on the Mexican Yucatan peninsula. The cave dweller injects the venom produced in its venom gland directly into its prey. This toxin contains a variety of components, including a new type of peptide, named xibalbine, after its crustacean producer. Some of these xibalbines contain a characteristic structural element that is familiar from other toxins, especially those produced by spiders: several amino acids (cysteines) of the peptide are bound to each other in such a manner that they form a knot-like structure. This in turn makes the peptides resistant to enzymes, heat and extreme pH values. Such knottins often act as neurotoxins, interacting with ion channels and paralyzing prey \u2013 an effect that has also been proposed for some xibalbines.<\/p>\n

Toxic underwater crustacean: Xibalbanus tulumensis contains toxins that are suitable for the development of active substances against neurological diseases. Photo: Bj\u00f6rn M. von Reumont<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The study shows that all the xibalbine peptides tested by the cooperation partners\u2019 doctoral students \u2013 and in particular Xib1<\/sub>, Xib2<\/sub>\u00a0and Xib13<\/sub>\u00a0\u2013 effectively inhibit potassium channels in mammalian systems. \u201cThis inhibition is greatly important when it comes to developing drugs for a range of neurological diseases, including epilepsy,\u201d says von Reumont. Xib1<\/sub>\u00a0and Xib13<\/sub>\u00a0also exhibit the ability to inhibit voltage-gated sodium channels, such as those found in nerve or heart muscle cells. In addition, in the sensory neurons of higher mammals, the two peptides can activate two proteins \u2013 kinases PKA-II and ERK1\/2 \u2013 involved in signal transduction. The latter suggests that they are involved in pain sensitization, which opens up new approaches in pain therapy.<\/p>\n

Although the xibalbines\u2019 bioactivity is exemplary of the untapped potential of marine biodiversity, the production of drugs from animal venoms is a complex and time-consuming process. \u201cFinding suitable candidates and comprehensively characterizing their effects, thus laying the foundation for safe and effective drugs, is only possible today in a large interdisciplinary team, as in the case of our study,\u201d says von Reumont.<\/p>\n

Making matters more difficult is the fact that time is of the essence for the remipedes. Their habitat is under serious threat from the construction of the Tren Maya intercity railroad network, which cuts straight through the Yucatan Peninsula. \u201cThe cenotes are a highly sensitive ecosystem,\u201d explains von Reumont, who, as an experienced cave diver, has collected remipedes in Yucatan during several cave diving expeditions. \u201cOur study highlights the importance of protecting biodiversity, not only for its ecological significance, but also for potential substances that could be of crucial importance to us humans.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zootoxins affect a wide range of physiological processes and are therefore of great interest for drug research.\u00a0An international study led by Bj\u00f6rn von Reumont of Goethe University Frankfurt has identified novel toxins from the cave-dwelling underwater crustacean\u00a0Xibalbanus tulumensis\u00a0that inhibit various ion channels.\u00a0The discovery opens up promising pharmacological applications. The species is found exclusively in the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":8956,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/aktuelles.uni-frankfurt.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/beitrag_Centoe_Entry_1000_c_BjoernVonReumont.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[195],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-environment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8955"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8957,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8955\/revisions\/8957"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}