Snails, Venom, and Diabetes Exploration Science with Dr. Wendy Hartsock and Dr. Diedra Shorty

In this episode of exploration science, Professors Danny Chou and Helena Safavi take a deep dive into predatory cone snail insulins. These unique insulins, components of the predator’s fish-disorienting venom, are uncovering opportunities to discover new medicines as well as gain insight into signaling pathways of the human insulin receptor.  

References and Links  

Dr. Danny Chou: https://profiles.stanford.edu/danny-chou 

Dr. Helena Safavi: https://helenasafavi.com/our-group/ 

Safavi-Hemami, H. et al. Specialized insulin is used for chemical warfare by fish-hunting cone snails. PNAS 112 (6) 1743-1748 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1423857112 

Menting, J. et al. A minimized human insulin-receptor-binding motif revealed in a Conus geographus venom insulin. Nat Struct Mol Biol 23, 916–920 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb.3292 

De Meyts, P. Structural basis for the poisonous activity of a predator's venom insulin. Nat Struct Mol Biol 23, 872–874 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb.3304 

Ahorukomeye, P. et al. Fish-hunting cone snail venoms are a rich source of minimized ligands of the vertebrate insulin receptor. eLife 2019;8:e41574 DOI: 10.7554/eLife.41574  

Jiracek, J. and Zakova, L. From venom peptides to a potential diabetes treatment. eLife 2019;8:e44829.DOI: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.44829 

Xiong, X. et al. A structurally minimized yet fully active insulin based on cone-snail venom insulin principles. Nat Struct Mol Biol 27, 615–624 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-020-0430-8