This is a recurring column on early-stage research in animals or other laboratory models that has not entered the clinic yet but could have implications for future research and development of human medicines.
Opioid addiction can possibly be controlled via a specific gene receptor, researchers say. Source: ThinkStock |
Counteracting opioid addiction with genetics
Opioids are a major cause for concern in the U.S., where an addiction epidemic has rattled some of the biggest names in the space, including Johnson & Johnson, Purdue Pharma LP and more.
But these drugs are still unmatched in their effectiveness to control pain, leading scientists at Scripps Research in Florida to find a way to control the body's response to exposure and reduce the risk of addiction.
Beginning their studies in small worms that were engineered to express the painkiller receptor present in mammals, the scientists found that a specific receptor showed abnormalities.
When the receptor was activated in mice, those dependent on opioids stopped taking the drugs. And the activated receptor actually augmented the painkilling nature of the opioids.
The researchers published their results in the journal Science.
"Forward genetics — unbiased genetic discovery — has never been applied to probing an opioid receptor like this," study co-author Brock Grill said in a release from Scripps. "The opioid epidemic is a huge problem and we don't have good solutions. This type of approach can bring a whole new array of targets and a new way of thinking about and going after an old problem."
Researchers have looked to scorpion toxin to learn more about the pain pathway, potentially leading to opioid alternatives. Source: Andrey Barsukov, Pixabay |
Scorpion toxin tells tales of painkiller pathway
In another study directed at finding ways to curb the opioid epidemic, scientists at the University of California, San Francisco and the University of Queensland in Australia have turned to an unlikely source: scorpion toxins.
The toxin targets the same pathway triggered when humans eat wasabi or chop onions. Further study of this pathway could help researchers understand chronic pain and inflammation.
A sensory protein detects these types of toxins and sends pain signals as a warning for the body because they can cause harm with too much exposure.
Particular to the scorpion toxin was its ability to pass through the cell membrane, which could provide a tool to discover new non-opioid pain relievers and inflammation reducers.
"Our results provide a beautiful and striking example of convergent evolution, whereby distantly related life forms — plants and animals — have developed defensive strategies that target the same mammalian receptor through completely distinct strategies," lead author David Julius said in a UCSF release.
The scientists published the study in the journal Cell in August.
In a pre-clinical study, mice with colon cancer had blue urine when given nanosensors, while that of healthy mice was normal. Source: Imperial College London |
Urine diagnostic goes 'blue' with cancer
Researchers at Imperial College London and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found that a urine test that changes the liquid's color could be an early indication of colon cancer in mice.
The scientists, led by Imperial's Molly Stevens and MIT's Sangeeta Bhatia, injected tiny compounds called nanosensors into the animals. These sensors break down in the presence of an enzyme released by tumors.
Because the sensors are broken down in mice with a tumor, it is in these mice that the chemicals pass through the kidney and into their urine, giving it a blue color that can be seen without enhancement.
Readouts from healthy mice showed no change in color, as described in the study published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology in September.
Tests like these that perform a simple function with clear results could be important for diagnosing patients down the road, especially where lab equipment might not be available.
"By taking advantage of this chemical reaction that produces a color change, this test can be administered without the need for expensive and hard-to-use lab instruments," Stevens said in a release from Imperial. "The simple readout could potentially be captured by a smartphone picture and transmitted to remote caregivers to connect patients to treatment."



