A long-lasting molecule in the venomous saliva of gila monsters enables prolonged insulin production.

Introduction

With good meals few and far between in the scorching deserts striding the U.S.-Mexico border, gila monsters (Heloderma suspectum) need to be able to get as much out of each successful hunt as they can. Gorging themselves, young gilas can consume half their body weight in a single sitting. In order to extract maximum energy from the such meals can yield, the hardy reptiles need to keep their pancreases producing over extended periods of time. Such an ability could be a great help for diabetics.

Gilas might be best known for having a potentially deadly venomous bite, but their legacy may actually be for saving human lives, not endangering them.

The Strategy

When you ingest carbohydrates from things like bread, fruits, vegetables, and dairy, your blood sugar (glucose) rises. In order for your body to turn it into energy, this sugar has to enter your cells from your blood stream. Insulin, a produced by the , increases in your blood stream as soon as glucose appears. In type-I diabetics, the body prevents itself from producing enough insulin to do its job.

Insulin tells your cells to open up and accept the glucose inside. Once in your cells, glucose can be converted into energy for immediate use or stored for use later. You’re using glucose right now, just to have the energy to read these words.

Within minutes of eating, your body produces another molecule, glucagon-like 1 (GLP1), which signals your pancreas to start producing insulin. Supplemental GLP1 would therefore be a good candidate for treating diabetes, except for the fact that it lasts only minutes before enzymes in our bodies break it back down. Ideally, a GLP1-like substance might be discovered which our enzymes didn’t break down so quickly, so that it could boost insulin production more effectively in diabetics.

"[E]xendin-4 was discovered in 1992 in the gila monster, after a researcher noticed the gila’s venom caused the pancreas of bitten victims to swell."

The Potential

Such a substance, exendin-4, was discovered in 1992 in the gila monster, after a researcher noticed the gila’s venom caused the pancreas of bitten victims to swell. In the human body, exendin-4 mimics the insulin-promoting action of GLP1, but it isn’t susceptible to our bodies’ GLP1-destroying enzymes. Synthetic peptides identical to exendin-4 are now used by diabetics around the world, helping them produce adequate levels of insulin and enjoy normal, healthy lives.

Last Updated May 17, 2018