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<div about="/news-events/nih-research-matters/cone-snail-venom-reveals-insulin-insights" typeof="sioc:Item foaf:Document" class="ds-1col node node--nih-research-matters view-mode-full node--full node--nih-research-matters--full clearfix">
<p class="publishdate"><span property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2016-10-04T00:00:00-04:00" class="date-display-single">October 4, 2016</span></p><div class='syndicate'><h1>Cone snail venom reveals insulin insights </h1><div class="callout callout-with-border"><h3>At a Glance</h3>
<ul>
<li>Researchers found that a fast-acting insulin from the cone snail can bind and activate the human insulin receptor.</li>
<li>The 3-D structure and other findings from the study provide insights for designing rapid-acting insulins to better manage diabetes.</li>
</ul>
</div><div class="media-float-right"><div class="ds-1col file file-image file-image-jpeg view-mode-floated_media clearfix">
<picture title="Cone snail">
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<source srcset="https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/styles/floated_media_breakpoint-large/public/news-events/research-matters/2016/20161004-geographus-hunting-snail.jpg?itok=tgzALOAc&amp;timestamp=1475592039 1x" media="screen and (min-width: 960px)" />
<source srcset="https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/styles/floated_media_breakpoint-medium/public/news-events/research-matters/2016/20161004-geographus-hunting-snail.jpg?itok=73QuYMqz&amp;timestamp=1475592039 1x" media="screen and (min-width: 800px)" />
<source srcset="https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/styles/floated_media_breakpoint-medium-small/public/news-events/research-matters/2016/20161004-geographus-hunting-snail.jpg?itok=dju8fesh&amp;timestamp=1475592039 1x" media="screen and (min-width: 600px)" />
<source srcset="https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/styles/floated_media_breakpoint-small/public/news-events/research-matters/2016/20161004-geographus-hunting-snail.jpg?itok=vrP681F9&amp;timestamp=1475592039 1x" media="screen and (min-width: 480px)" />
<source srcset="https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/styles/floated_media_breakpoint-tiny/public/news-events/research-matters/2016/20161004-geographus-hunting-snail.jpg?itok=xTz9W7Ce&amp;timestamp=1475592039 1x" media="screen and (min-width: 0)" />
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<img src="https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/styles/floated_media_breakpoint-medium/public/news-events/research-matters/2016/20161004-geographus-hunting-snail.jpg?itok=73QuYMqz&amp;timestamp=1475592039" alt="Cone snail" title="Cone snail" />
</picture><span class="caption">The marine cone snail Conus geographus hunting a fish.</span><span class="credit">Baldomero Olivera, Ph.D., University of Utah</span></div>
</div><p>The marine cone snail releases a venom cocktail to stun its prey. The venom includes insulin, which acts within minutes to immobilize nearby fish by inducing hypoglycemic shock—a sedation-like state caused by extremely low blood sugar. Scientists have been intrigued by how rapidly this insulin works compared to human insulin.</p>
<p>In people, when blood glucose levels rise, such as after a meal, insulin is released from the pancreas into the blood stream. It binds to insulin receptors on tissues to trigger them to take in glucose from the blood. Diabetes occurs when this process doesnt work correctly. In type 2 diabetes, the most common form, tissues in the body lose their sensitivity to insulin, and pancreatic cells cant make enough insulin to keep glucose levels in check. In type 1 diabetes, the bodys own immune system attacks and destroys pancreatic cells. Many people rely on injections of synthetic insulin to manage their diabetes, and the timing can be crucial.</p>
<div class="media-float-right"><div class="media media-element-container media-floated_media"><div class="ds-1col file file-image file-image-jpeg view-mode-floated_media clearfix">
<picture title="Human and cone snail insulin" class="media-element file-floated-media">
<!--[if IE 9]><video style="display: none;"><![endif]-->
<source srcset="https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/styles/floated_media_breakpoint-large/public/news-events/research-matters/2016/20161004-insulin-structure.jpg?itok=Xbpp1qAU&amp;timestamp=1475594621 1x" media="screen and (min-width: 960px)"></source>
<source srcset="https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/styles/floated_media_breakpoint-medium/public/news-events/research-matters/2016/20161004-insulin-structure.jpg?itok=wmusDfH2&amp;timestamp=1475594621 1x" media="screen and (min-width: 800px)"></source>
<source srcset="https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/styles/floated_media_breakpoint-medium-small/public/news-events/research-matters/2016/20161004-insulin-structure.jpg?itok=i0KiBW9N&amp;timestamp=1475594621 1x" media="screen and (min-width: 600px)"></source>
<source srcset="https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/styles/floated_media_breakpoint-small/public/news-events/research-matters/2016/20161004-insulin-structure.jpg?itok=HkgK_xL7&amp;timestamp=1475594621 1x" media="screen and (min-width: 480px)"></source>
<source srcset="https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/styles/floated_media_breakpoint-tiny/public/news-events/research-matters/2016/20161004-insulin-structure.jpg?itok=Xoh6cmWm&amp;timestamp=1475594621 1x" media="screen and (min-width: 0)"></source>
<!--[if IE 9]></video><![endif]-->
<img class="media-element file-floated-media" src="https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/styles/floated_media_breakpoint-medium/public/news-events/research-matters/2016/20161004-insulin-structure.jpg?itok=wmusDfH2&amp;timestamp=1475594621" alt="Human and cone snail insulin" title="Human and cone snail insulin" />
</picture><span class="caption">Comparison of the structures of cone snail insulin (red/white) and human insulin (blue/white and green). The green B-chain terminal segment is absent in the cone snail insulin. </span><span class="credit">Michael Lawrence, Ph.D., Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research</span></div>
</div></div>
<p>Human insulin is stored in the pancreas as a cluster of 6 insulin molecules bound together. To work, the human insulin molecules have to first separate into 6 individual units, a time-consuming process. In contrast, the cone snail has the smallest known insulin found in nature and works rapidly. <!--MEDIA-WRAPPER-END-1--></p>
<p>An international research team led by Drs. Helena Safavi of the University of Utah and Michael Lawrence of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Australia set out to characterize cone snail insulin to gain insights into therapeutic insulin design. The research was supported in part by NIHs National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). Results were published online on September 12, 2016, in <em>Nature Structural &amp; Molecular Biology.</em></p>
<p>Each insulin molecule consists of an A and a B chain. Cone snail insulin lacks a segment of the B chain. In human insulin, this region functions to help the hormone assemble in a cluster for storage and to interact with the insulin receptor. The researchers synthesized and purified snail insulin. They found that despite its smaller structure, the snail insulin could bind the human insulin receptor and turn on the receptor to activate signaling. </p>
<p>To determine how the shorter snail insulin could bind, the team assessed its 3-D structure by using X-ray crystallography. They created a model of snail insulin bound to the human insulin receptor and compared the binding to that of human insulin.</p>
<p>“We found that cone snail venom insulins work faster than human insulins by avoiding the structural changes that human insulins undergo in order to function—they are essentially primed and ready to bind to their receptors,” Lawrence says. </p>
<p>“You can get new ideas from venoms,” Safavi says. “To have something that has already been evolved — thats a huge advantage.” </p>
<p>—by Carol Torgan, Ph.D.</p>
</div><h2 class="label-above">Related Links</h2><ul class="spaced print-urls"><li><a href="https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/encapsulated-cells-treat-diabetes-mice" target="_top">Encapsulated Cells Treat Diabetes in Mice</a></li><li><a href="https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/developing-insulin-producing-cells-treat-diabetes" target="_top">Developing Insulin-Producing Cells to Treat Diabetes</a></li><li><a href="https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/understanding-insulin-sensitivity-diabetes" target="_top">Understanding Insulin Sensitivity and Diabetes </a></li><li><a href="https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes" target="_top">Diabetes</a></li><li><a href="https://publications.nigms.nih.gov/insidelifescience/medicine_maker.html" target="_top">Nature: The Master Medicine-Maker</a></li></ul><p class="footnote"><strong class="label-inline">References:&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27617429">A minimized human insulin-receptor-binding motif revealed in a Conus geographus venom insulin.</a> Menting JG, Gajewiak J, MacRaild CA, Chou DH, Disotuar MM, Smith NA, Miller C, Erchegyi J, Rivier JE, Olivera BM, Forbes BE, Smith BJ, Norton RS, Safavi-Hemami H, Lawrence MC. <em>Nat Struct Mol Biol.</em> 2016 Sep 12. doi: 10.1038/nsmb.3292. [Epub ahead of print]. PMID: 27617429.</p><p class="footnote"><strong class="label-inline">Funding:&nbsp;</strong>NIHs National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, Utah Science and Technology Initiative, European Commission, Victorian State Government Operational Infrastructure Support, and the University of Utah Diabetes and Metabolism Center.</p>
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