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An experimental antivenom has been developed against the world's most feared venomous snake dendrotoxins, black mamba, found in Africa. The experiments were conducted in collaboration between DTU and Instituto Clodomiro Picado in Costa Rica and IONTAS in Cambridge, UK. The results of this study were recently published in the journal Nature Communications.
Andreas Hougaard Laustsen, Associate Professor at DTU Bioengineering, believes that these results could lead to a paradigm shift in the treatment of snake bites.
"The leap forward from our experiments is that we have used a biotechnological method to find and then propagate human antibodies in the laboratory to enable their use in the treatment of experimental black mamba." This method can be used To discover human antibodies in the laboratory by simulating the human immune system, we avoid injecting patients with snake venom to produce antibodies by immunization, "says Andreas Hougaard Laustsen.
Antibodies from experimental black mamba based antivenom were discovered using an antibody library containing human antibody genes extracted from white blood cells in the blood from a donor. These genes have been inserted into genetically modified viral particles capable of expressing the desired human antibodies on their surfaces. These viral particles were then used to screen for and find human antibodies that can bind to black mamba dendrotoxins. Once the correct antibodies were found, the antibody genes were inserted into mammalian cells acting as cell factories producing a large amount of monoclonal antibodies.
The discovered antibodies can be used in the industrial setting for large scale production in huge fermentation tanks, similar to the insulin production today. Insulin experienced a similar development in the early 90s, when production shifted from insulin-based pork to a fully human insulin manufactured using the technology of the same day. Recombinant DNA.
Andreas Hougaard Laustsen believes that it will still be years before the production of human-based antivenom is ready to go beyond the laboratory.
"We have shown that it is possible to produce an experimental human antivenom against the important toxins of a species of snake, the black mamba." Before the clinical trials of antivenom on humans made sense, it It is relevant to develop more antibodies for antivenom, to give it a broader spectrum against several types of snake venom, "explains Andreas Hougaard Laustsen.
Researchers are therefore working on the development of an antivenom serum against several species of snakes. If the research succeeds, doctors will be able to use the antivenom in the many cases of snake bite in which the snake species is unknown. This can potentially save many lives, not only in Africa but around the world.
Each year, more than 100,000 people die from snakebite attacks and many others are disabled. Since most snakebites occur in poor areas of the world, this is not a priority area for pharmaceutical companies. In order to attract more attention and more funds in the region, the World Health Organization (WHO) has added in 2017 snake bites to the list of neglected tropical diseases.
Andreas Hougaard Laustsen Dr. Andreas Hougaard Laustsen is Associate Professor at DTU Bioengineering, where he conducts research on therapeutic antibodies and is working on the development of antivenom serums against snakes, scorpions and spiders, designed in such a way as not to cause dizziness. adverse effects in patients. In 2017, Andreas Laustsen became a member of the WHO Working Group on Snakebite Envenom.
Explore more:
Researchers adopt a new approach to treating snake bites
More information:
Andreas H. Laustsen et al, In vivo neutralization of the neurotoxicity of dendrotoxin mediated black mamba venom by oligoclonal human IgG antibodies, Nature Communications (2018). DOI: 10.1038 / s41467-018-06086-4
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