Sea lily venom for the treatment of autoimmune diseases

Researchers are testing whether venom secreted by sea anemones, as well as venom from various snakes and spiders, can be used as a treatment for autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and psoriasis.

By: Dafna Haim-Langford

Researchers are testing whether venom secreted by sea anemones, as well as venom from various snakes and spiders, can be used as a treatment for autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and psoriasis.

Animal venom consists of proteins and peptides, which have been adapted, over millions of years of evolution, to kill or paralyze potential predators, or to paralyze nearby prey. The venom, usually, is transmitted through prongs, spines, fangs, etc., and acts on the animals in different ways, such as preventing blood clotting, blocking ion channels in the nervous system, and more. The action of the venom proteins is made possible thanks to their ability to evade the body's defense systems.

The specificity and high potency of the venom of various animals make it an object of research and the development of drugs for various applications. 30 years ago, the FDA (American Food and Drug Administration) approved for the first time a venom-based drug for hypertension, the Captain, a drug that mimics the structure of pit viper venom, and several venom-based drugs were developed for heart disease, pain relief, and more.

In studies conducted on the sea anemone from the reef in the Caribbean, it was found that the sea anemone uses venom to hunt shrimps and other types of food. The poison of the sea lily is an inhibitor of Kv1.3 type potassium channels - it turns out that these channels are found in T-type immune cells that create inflammation in autoimmune diseases, and their inhibition prevents the creation of autoimmune inflammation.

At the biotechnology company Kineta in Seattle, they decided to test the effectiveness of the venom of the sea lily for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, and achieved promising results in a first phase trial in humans. Dalazatide, the drug under development, which mimics the poison secreted by the sea lily, suppresses only the white blood cells that cause autoimmune diseases, without affecting the rest of the immune system. As we wrote before, autoimmune diseases are diseases in which the immune system mistakenly identifies autologous proteins as foreign invaders, and attacks them. There are about 80 autoimmune diseases. The diseases can damage one target organ such as the eyes in uveitis, diseases that affect several systems such as the kidneys, brain, skin, in lupus, the intestine in Crohn's disease, the joints in rheumatoid arthritis and the nervous system in multiple sclerosis. The treatment of these diseases is based on suppressing the activity of the immune system so that it does not cause autoimmune inflammation. Suppressing the immune system exposes the patient to various infections and diseases, and may cause side effects and severe complications.

According to the National Institute of Health, autoimmune diseases are incurable diseases, affecting approximately 23.5 million Americans, mostly women.
In the first phase study, 24 psoriasis patients were treated. They received the drug by injection twice a week for four weeks, and preliminary results showed a benefit in the condition of the disease.
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