Venomics: Drug Discovery from Nature’s Deadliest
Symposium - New York City, United States
Spiders, snakes, scorpions, sea snails and leeches are not what come to mind when thinking of the products that stock a doctor's office or your local pharmacy. However, these animals produce a staggering number of compounds in their venom that are directly applicable for novel drug discovery. Encouraged by the substantial medicinal and fiscal success of the Bristol-Myers Squibb ACE-inhibitor, Captopril, and Elan's analgesic, Prialt® (Ziconotide) and their use to alleviate chronic pain in HIV and cancer patients, many pharmaceutical companies are now investing heavily in venom-based drug discovery programs. Due to ease of access, the majority of currently approved products were developed from snake venom proteins with distinct cardiovascular specificities, particularly those that target thrombin, fibrinogen and integrin receptors. However, rapid advances in proteomics, genomics and transcriptomics have leveled the playing field, providing affordable technology platforms that enable mining of venom proteins/peptides for drug discovery from species such as predatory marine snails and spiders, which produce venom in very small quantities yet are estimated to contain more than 10 million compounds available for drug discovery and development. New analgesics, anti-tumor agents and even agricultural pesticides await discovery and can be realized through an integrated approach combining genomic, proteomic, and transcriptomic data, which is being referred to as 'venomics'. Drug discovery and development activity will likely continue to rise as largely unstudied venomous animal lineages are investigated for novel lead compounds.
This symposium will investigate integrated strategies necessary to harness the cornucopia of venom compounds using mass spectrometry, nucleotide sequencing, and synthetic chemistry.
Organization: New York Academy of Sciences
(Courtesy of New York Academy of Sciences, New York City, United States via starrynightlights.com)
Venomics: Drug Discovery from Nature’s Deadliest
4th November 2013 at 8:30am to 4:30pm (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)
New York Academy of Sciences, 250 Greenwich Street, 40th Floor, New York City, United States
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