Research to create pain reliever from puffer fish toxins

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is the most potent natural neurotoxin known to man. It is made in the body of marine animals such as puffer fish, snails, octopuses, newts or frogs and worms. To study and harness the power of this mysterious biochemical, scientists around the world have been trying to synthesize TTX in a laboratory setting for more than 100 years. Looks like the New York University (NYU) team has figured it out.

The toxin tetrodotoxin (TTX) is commonly found in puffer fish - (Photo: Whiteway/iStock)

In a recently published study, researchers revealed a 22-step process that uses bioactive, highly effective TXX that can be made from readily available materials. They claim to have discovered the 'easiest' method of TTX synthesis. The study was published in the journal Science.

"Our project is not the first synthesis of tetrodotoxin, but the method is the most effective to date," said Dirk Trauner, a professor of Chemistry at NYU and one of the study's authors. 30 times improved in technology level'.

TTX is often considered a mystery by many scientists because they are still uncertain about how animals such as puffer fish produce and store this toxin in the body. Furthermore, a great mystery surrounds the properties of chemicals used for purposes other than self-defense. Professor Trauner and his team believe that TTX can be considered a 'rocking molecule' because of its role in defining predator-prey relationships in ecosystems.

In addition, it is also believed to act as an appetite stimulant in some organisms. As a potent paralyzing neurotoxin, TTX can block sodium channels in nerve cell membranes and signals within nerve circuits. Which brings us to the biggest reason why scientists have been 'infatuated' with TTX for a long time.

Researchers claim that TTX's ability to block the sodium channel holds a secret related to the development of a new effective painkiller.

'The medical need for pain relievers with new modes of action is huge. TTX has the interesting property of blocking nerve signals. These signals are integral to pain sensation in humans, and thus the TTX toxin is believed to be a promising guide for the development of next-generation non-narcotic analgesics,' Trauner said. speak.

Tetrodotoxin is found in the liver and reproductive organs of marine animals. Japanese scientist Dr. Yoshizumi Tahara isolated TTX for the first time in 1894 and confirmed the same in 1909. Since then, scientists have studied and tried to synthesize this chemical in laboratory environment.

However, creating a stable and pure version of TTX is a challenge for biochemists because of its complex structure and instability. Although scientists have been able to synthesize TTX in the past, most of those neurotoxins are unstable or less effective. Plus, many of those methods are not scalable because they involve complications.

'The main challenge in synthesizing TTX is the high chemical complexity, instability and challenge posed during its purification and isolation. This is reflected in previous synthesis that required more steps and was less efficient overall,' Professor Trauner said.

Interestingly, the TTX synthesis proposed by the NYU researchers starts with a glucose derivative, involves only 22 steps, and yields an impressive 11%. Professor Trauner and team state that this method is currently the most efficient and perhaps the only scalable method for the production of TTX and its derivatives. Now, researchers will use the platform to dig deeper into the neurotoxin's pain-relieving properties.