A group of scientists, using a type of toxin found in many kinds of snakes, synthetically developed a broadly applicable human antibody against the venom toxin.
Key-highlights
The scientists focused on three-finger toxins (3FTxs) — one of the most abundant and lethal ingredients in elapid venoms.
Elapids are a major medically relevant family of snakes that include cobras, kraits, and mambas.
The scientists narrowed their focus on α-neurotoxins, a specific class of 3FTxs that target receptors in human nerve and muscle cells.
These toxins prevent the receptors from responding to acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter involved in carrying messages from the neurons to the muscles, leading to paralysis, an inability to breathe, and eventually death.
They then screened billions of human antibodies and selected number of antibodies that an animal’s immune system could cook up in response to a venom. After multiple rounds, they had a shortlist of antibodies that broadly reacted with most of the 3FTx variants they used.
Then an antibody dubbed 95Mat5 was found that worked well against all the snake venoms.
Fact Box: Devastation caused by Snakebites
Venom from snake bites leads to more than 100,000 deaths every year, with around 400,000 people left permanently disabled.
The mortality burden is especially higher in low and middle-income countries in Africa and Asia, with India alone at a staggering average of 58,000 deaths in a year.
In 2017, WHO classified snakebite envenoming as a highest priority neglected tropical disease.