800 species of predatory marine snails in the family Conidae (“cone snails”)*. A well-validated resource for the study of non-opioid pain pathways and analgesics are the venoms of the ca. The combination of new technologies in diverse fields, including the development of novel high-content assays and revolutionary advancements in transcriptomics and proteomics, puts us at the cusp of providing a continuous pipeline of non-opioid drug innovations for pain.Ĭonus venom peptides (“conotoxins”, “conopeptides”).

We conclude with a discussion on why the outlook for discovery appears exceptionally promising. This review comprises several sections: the first focuses on Ziconotide as a therapeutic (including a historical retrospective and a clinical perspective) followed by sections on other promising Conus venom peptides that are either in clinical or pre-clinical development. An auxiliary theme that we hope to develop is that these venoms, already a validated starting point for non-opioid drug leads, should also provide an opportunity for identifying novel molecular targets for future pain drugs. In this review, we summarize the present status of Ziconotide as a therapeutic drug and introduce a wider framework: the potential of venom peptides from cone snails as a resource providing a continuous pipeline for the discovery of non-opioid pain therapeutics. A notable exception is Ziconotide (Prialt®), approved by the FDA in 2004. “This gives insight to the development of next-generation therapeutics,” said Christopher Hill, a distinguished professor of Biochemistry at the University of Utah. “More generally, this is a great example of how evolution in the natural world has already developed drug-like natural products that have great potential to improve human health.There have been numerous attempts to develop non-opioid drugs for severe pain, but the vast majority of these efforts have failed. Laboratory studies have shown that Consomatin Ro1 can block pain in mice with an efficiency similar to that of morphine, and thus may be used by cone snails to block pain so their prey does not know it has been struck.įurther research is needed to understand the origin of Consomatin Ro1 in snails, and to assess the potential of the compound to act as an anti-inflammatory and pain reliever in humans. This peptide is short, stable, and efficient in the receptors it targets, appearing to activate two of the five human receptors for somatostatin with unique selectivity. While studying C.rolani – a species of cone snail that injects venom into fish to leave them sensory-deprived and disoriented and thus an easy prey – Professor Safavi-Hemami and her colleagues discovered that their venom contained a small peptide (chain of amino acids) called Consomatin Ro1 that had a few similarities with somatostatin. And because of that, it had been an interesting hormone for drug development for some time.” “So it’s this hormone that has many, many different functions in the human body,” said study senior author Helena Safavi-Hemami, an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Utah and associate professor at the University of Copenhagen. Moreover, it also inhibits hormones in the pancreas, as well as signals of inflammation and pain. For instance, it is the main inhibitor of growth hormone, and can be used to treat acromegaly, an excessive growth disorder.

Somatostatin is a hormone that, in humans and many other vertebrates, acts as a multipurpose inhibitor. In a new study led by the University of Utah and the University of Copenhagen, an international team of scientists discovered that a particular group of cone snails ( Conus rolani) produces a venom compound similar to the hormone somatostatin. Scientists have already studied in great depth the venom of cone snails – predatory marine animals that prowl on the ocean floor, hunting and feeding upon fish – and found that it contains chemical compounds that can be adapted to treat chronic pain, diabetes, and other human diseases.

Cone snail venom