Decoded structure of sea compound yielding potential new ways to fight diseases
August 29th, 2009 - 2:12 pm ICT by ANIWashington, August 29 (ANI): A team of scientists in the U.S. have deciphered the highly unusual molecular structure of a natural sea compound, which is shedding new light on the function of mammalian nerve cells.
The team of collaborators from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California-San Diego (UC San Diego) and Creighton University have found that cyanobacteria, tiny photosynthetic sea organisms, produce a compound with a structure previously unseen in biomedicine.
The researchers say that the compound, which they have dubbed hoiamide A, offers a novel template for drug development.
“We have seen some of hoiamide A’s features in other molecules, but separately. We believe this new template may be important because it’s showing different mechanisms of action-different ways to interact with neurons, possibly with a good therapeutic effect for such diseases as epilepsy, hypoxia-ischemia and several neurodegenerative disorders,” said Alban Pereira, a postdoctoral researcher in Scripps’ CMBB.
The researchers have also revealed that pharmacological tests have shown that Hoiamide A interacts with the same important therapeutic target as analgesic, antiarrhythmic, antiepileptic, and neuroprotective drugs.
“Classically, what we know about the workings of the human nervous system has come largely from studies of different toxins on the function of model systems, such as in this case, the action of hoiamide A on nerve cells in petri dish cultures,” said principal co-investigators William Gerwick.
“The toxins serve as ‘molecular tools’ for manipulating cells at an extremely microscopic scale. Ultimately, by understanding how neurons work at this detailed level, and having a set of tools such as hoiamide A, we can envision the development of new, more effective treatments for such diverse conditions as epilepsy, pain control and memory and cognition enhancement. The natural world still has many valuable molecules left for us to discover and hopefully develop into new classes of medicines,” he added.
A research article describing the study has been published in the journal Chemistry and Biology. (ANI)
- Gene that can influence a person's risk for developing epilepsy identified - Apr 05, 2011
- New finding may have implications for schizophrenia, autism - Feb 10, 2011
- Scientists produce compound that may treat Parkinson's disease - Feb 12, 2011
- Therapeutic targets for neurological, cardiovascular diseases identified - Jan 10, 2011
- Found! Cells that drive brain's adaptability - Jan 02, 2012
- Panama may hold cures to cancer, malaria and dengue fever - Jul 11, 2009
- Snake venom could advance drug discovery, understanding of diseases - Mar 09, 2010
- New study could lead to potential drug targets for schizophrenia, Parkinson's - Mar 12, 2011
- New discovery shows promise against Parkinson's, Alzheimer's - Dec 08, 2010
- Fruit fly's response to starvation could help regulate human appetite - Apr 01, 2011
- Epilepsy trigger found - Mar 19, 2011
- New shot could reverse arthritis - Apr 08, 2012
- Compound that effectively suppresses multiple sclerosis developed - Apr 19, 2011
- Newly identified spider toxin may help treat pain, human diseases - Mar 10, 2011
- Jet lag pill that slows down body clock to help you 'catch up' 1 step closer - Dec 15, 2010
Tags: antiepileptic, california san diego, co investigators, creighton university, how neurons work, human nervous system, hypoxia ischemia, institution of oceanography, mammalian nerve cells, microscopic scale, molecular tools, natural sea, neuroprotective drugs, postdoctoral researcher, principal co, scripps institution of oceanography, sea organisms, therapeutic target, uc san diego, university of california san diego