Scientists at Scripps Research identified antibodies that protect against a host of lethal snake venoms.
Scripps Research scientists have developed an antibody that can block the effects of lethal toxins in the venoms of a wide variety of snakes found throughout Africa, Asia and Australia.
The antibody, which protected mice from the normally deadly venom of snakes including black mambas and king cobras, is described in a paper recently published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The new research used forms of the toxins produced in the laboratory to screen billions of different human antibodies and identify one that can block the toxins’ activity. It represents a large step toward a universal antivenom that would be effective against the venom of all snakes.
“This antibody works against one of the major toxins found across numerous snake DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.adk1867
In addition to Khalek and Jardine, authors of the study, “Synthetic development of a broadly neutralizing antibody against snake venom long-chain α-neurotoxins,” include Yen Thi Kim Nguyen, Jordan Woehl, Jessica M. Smith, Karen Saye-Francisco, Yoojin Kim, Laetitia Misson Mindrebo, Quoc Tran, Mateusz Kędzior, Oliver Limbo, Megan Verma, Robyn L. Stanfield, Dennis R. Burton, Devin Sok and Ian A. Wilson of Scripps; Evy Boré, Rohit N. Patel, Stefanie K. Menzies, Stuart Ainsworth, Robert A. Harrison and Nicholas R. Casewell of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine; and R. R. Senji Laxme, Suyog Khochare and Kartik Sunagar of the Indian Institute of Science.
This work was supported by funding from the