PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

UCI researchers find sea anemone venom-derived compound effective in anti-obesity studies

Metabolic activity enhanced by ShK-186 synthetic compound, may work on other obesity induced disease manifestations

2013-05-28
(Press-News.org) Irvine, CA & Seattle, WA — Scientists at UC Irvine reported this week that a synthetic compound ShK-186, originally derived from a sea anemone toxin, has been found to enhance metabolic activity and shows potential as a treatment for obesity and insulin resistance.

The findings published the week of May 27 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveal that ShK-186 selectively blocks the activity of a protein that promotes inflammation through the Kv1.3 potassium channel. The study presents the first evidence that the drug candidate – which in March showed positive results in a Phase 1 safety clinical trial – may also work in an anti-obesity capacity.

UC Irvine licensed ShK-186 to Kineta Inc., a Seattle based biotechnology company in 2009; it is the company's lead drug candidate. Kineta is developing this compound to treat autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, psoriatic arthritis and lupus. It has also licensed the use of ShK-186 for the treatment of metabolic syndrome and obesity.

Potassium channels regulate cell membrane potential and control a variety of cellular processes. Earlier studies using mice that lack Kv1.3, a potassium channel gene, suggested that Kv1.3 regulated body weight and the basal metabolic rate.

In the present study, Dr. George Chandy and his colleagues evaluated ShK-186 because it has high selectivity for the Kv1.3 target, a favorable pharmacokinetic profile, and meets the qualities of an industry-standard drug. In tests on obese mice that ate a high-fat, high-sugar diet, ShK-186 therapy reduced weight gain, white fat deposits, fatty liver, blood cholesterol and blood sugar by activating calorie-burning brown fat, suppressing inflammation of white fat and augmenting liver function. The compound had no effect on mice that ate a standard chow diet, suggesting that the obesity-causing diet triggers the expression of the Kv1.3 target.

"This is a new twist in a sustained journey of discovery made over the 30 years that charts the course for expeditious translation to humans who suffer from potentially lethal consequences of metabolic syndrome and autoimmune diseases," said Chandy, professor of physiology & biophysics at UC Irvine and a Kineta scientific advisor. "We evaluated ShK-186 in an obesity model because it has high selectivity for the Kv1.3 target, a favorable pharmacokinetic profile, and meets the qualities of an industry-standard drug."

"These data are quite exciting and strongly support the notion that inhibition of the Kv1.3 channel provides a highly effective method for managing obesity and its associated metabolic abnormalities. The results obtained with ShK-186 are consistent with what one would expect to see with a potent inhibitor of this channel. While additional studies are needed, the potential clinical relevance of this work is enormous, since a significant number of people are afflicted with obesity and its associated complications, and no Kv1.3 inhibitor, as a drug candidate for obesity, has reached the clinic until now," said Dr. Gary V. Desir, professor of medicine at Yale University, and an expert on the Kv1.3 channel's role in renal potassium secretion and glucose metabolism. Dr. Desir was not involved with the study.

"Knowing that ShK-186's unique mechanism of action may have broad utilization across multiple therapeutic disciplines, such as autoimmune diseases and now obesity, further adds to the potential of this compound. This study also shows how medical progress can be made through academic and private sector partnerships," added Charles Magness, Ph.D., President and CEO of Kineta.

According to the World Health Organization (March 2013), obesity worldwide has nearly doubled since 1980. In 2008, more than 200 million men and nearly 300 million women, or 11 percent, were obese. Diabetes is expected to affect roughly 300 million humans by 2030 with an economic cost of $260 billion annually.

Sanjeev Kumar Upadhyay, Kristin Eckel-Mahan, M. Reza Mirbolooki, Indra Tjong, Galina Schmunk, Briac Halbout, Brian Pedersen, Emiliana Borrelli, Ping H. Wang, Jogeshwar Mukherjee, and Paolo Sassone-Corsi with UC Irvine; Amanda Koehne and Stephen M. Griffey with UC Davis; and Shawn Iadonato with Kineta contributed to the study, which received support from the National Institutes of Health, a UC Irvine bridge grant, and the Ko Family Foundation.

INFORMATION:

About Kv1.3 Research at UCI

Dr. Chandy and his UC Irvine colleague Michael Cahalan discovered Kv1.3 in 1984, and since then they have characterized the role of this channel in immune cells. In the 1990s, Chandy and colleagues found that ShK, a peptide from sun anemone venom, blocks Kv1.3 with high potency. They created a synthetic version, ShK-186, and demonstrated its usefulness in treating autoimmune diseases in animal models. ShK-186 is now under pharmaceutical development at Kineta.

About ShK-186

Kineta's lead clinical stage program, ShK-186, is a selective and potent blocker of the voltage-gated Kv1.3 potassium channel. Originally developed from the toxic tentacles of the sun anemone, Stichodactyla helianthus, ShK-186 is a synthetic peptide with a novel mechanism of action that targets autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus, without broadly suppressing the immune system. ShK-186 was the first Kv1.3-specific inhibitor advanced into the clinic and was well tolerated in a Phase I clinical study that was completed in March 2013.

About UCI

Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Led by Chancellor Michael Drake since 2005, UC Irvine is among the most dynamic campuses in the University of California system, with more than 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students, 1,100 faculty and 9,400 staff. Orange County's second-largest employer, UC Irvine contributes an annual economic impact of $4.3 billion. For more UC Irvine news, visit news.uci.edu.

About Kineta, Inc.

Kineta is a Seattle-based privately held biotechnology company specializing in clinical advancement of novel drug candidates derived from leading edge scientific research. Our world class scientists are pioneers in developing life-changing classes of new drugs designed to be more effective and safer than current medicines. Kineta seeks to improve the lives of millions of people suffering from autoimmune and viral diseases and from severe pain. Our progressive business model focuses on targeting unmet medical needs and rapid achievement of important clinical milestones. For more information on Kineta, Inc. visit our website, http://www.Kinetabio.com

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

KISS ME DEADLY proteins may help improve crop yields

2013-05-28
Dartmouth College researchers have identified a new regulator for plant hormone signaling -- the KISS ME DEADLY family of proteins (KMDs) – that may help to improve production of fruits, vegetables and grains. The study's results will be published the week of May 27 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Journalists can access the paper, titled "SCFKMD controls cytokinin signaling by regulating the degradation of type-B response regulators," through EurekAlert!. Professor G. Eric Schaller, the paper's senior author, studies the molecular mechanisms ...

Spine function improves following cell replacement therapy with fetal human stem cells

2013-05-28
Human foetal stem cell grafts improve both motor and sensory functions in rats suffering from a spinal cord injury, according to research published this week in BioMed Central's open access journal Stem Cell Research and Therapy. This cell replacement therapy also improves the structural integrity of the spine, providing a functional relay through the injury site. The research gives hope for the treatment of spinal cord injuries in humans. Grafting human neural stem cells into the spine is a promising approach to promote the recovery of function after spinal injury. ...

Patients with end-stage kidney disease have different expectations than their doctors

2013-05-28
BOSTON – In any given year, 400,000 Americans suffering from end-stage kidney disease will undergo dialysis, and as many as 20 to 25 percent of those dialysis patients will die, a statistic comparable to many types of cancer. But while cancer doctors may be more accustomed to talking with patients about the likely course of their disease, a new study from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center finds that doctors who treat patients with kidney failure are reluctant to discuss a difficult prognosis, and their patients are likely to have distorted expectations about their own ...

All in one shot

2013-05-28
Boston, MA – Developing new vaccines to protect against diseases that plague humans is fraught with numerous challenges—one being that microbes tend to vary how they look on the surface to avoid being identified and destroyed by the immune system. However, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have discovered a sugar polymer that is common on the cell surface of several pathogens. This common sugar molecule makes it a promising target for the development of a broad-spectrum vaccine that can protect against numerous deadly microbes expressing this sugar on ...

When doctors and patients share in decisions, hospital costs go up

2013-05-28
Since the 1980s, doctors and patients have been encouraged to share decision making. Proponents argue that this approach promotes doctor-patient communication, enhances patient satisfaction, improves health outcomes, and even may lower cost. Yet, a hospital-based study found that patients who want to participate in their medical decisions end up spending more time in the hospital and raising costs of their hospital stay by an average of $865. The findings, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, came from the first hospital-based study to examine how patients' desire ...

Meta-analysis: Bug and weed killers, solvents may increase risk of Parkinson's disease

2013-05-28
MINNEAPOLIS – A large analysis of more than 100 studies from around the world shows that exposure to pesticides, or bug and weed killers, and solvents is likely associated with a higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease. The research appears in the May 28, 2013, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. "Due to this association, there was also a link between farming or country living and developing Parkinson's in some of the studies," said study author Emanuele Cereda, MD, PhD, with the IRCCS University Hospital San Matteo ...

Should you stop blood thinners before surgery? AAN guideline provides direction

2013-05-28
MINNEAPOLIS – A new guideline from the American Academy of Neurology will help people who take blood thinners decide whether or not to take them during surgery or other medical procedures. The guideline is published in the May 28, 2013, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. People who have had a stroke often take blood thinners such as aspirin or warfarin to prevent another stroke. Blood thinners, or anticlotting drugs, are also used to prevent a first stroke in people with atrial fibrillation, an irregular or fast heartbeat. ...

Stem cell injections improve spinal injuries in rats

2013-05-28
An international team led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine reports that a single injection of human neural stem cells produced neuronal regeneration and improvement of function and mobility in rats impaired by an acute spinal cord injury (SCI). The findings are published in the May 28, 2013 online issue of Stem Cell Research & Therapy. Martin Marsala, MD, professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, with colleagues at UC San Diego and in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and The Netherlands, said grafting neural stem cells derived ...

Down syndrome neurons grown from stem cells show signature problems

2013-05-28
Madison, Wis. – Down syndrome, the most common genetic form of intellectual disability, results from an extra copy of one chromosome. Although people with Down syndrome experience intellectual difficulties and other problems, scientists have had trouble identifying why that extra chromosome causes such widespread effects. In new research published this week, Anita Bhattacharyya, a neuroscientist at the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, reports on brain cells that were grown from skin cells of individuals with Down syndrome. "Even though Down ...

Communication between physicians and patients important for expectations

2013-05-28
Seriously ill patients undergoing hemodialysis are more optimistic about their prognosis and prospects for transplants than their nephrologists, according to a study published online by JAMA Internal Medicine. The study also found that nephrologists rarely had discussed estimates of life-expectancy with their patients. Melissa W. Wachterman, M.D., M.P.H., from Veterans Affairs Boston Health Care System and colleagues compared patients' and physicians' expectations about one- and five-year survival rates and transplant candidacy among 207 patients undergoing hemodialysis ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

New strategies to enhance chiral optical signals unveiled

Cambridge research uncovers powerful virtual reality treatment for speech anxiety

2025 Gut Microbiota for Health World Summit to spotlight groundbreaking research

International survey finds that support for climate interventions is tied to being hopeful and worried about climate change

Cambridge scientist launches free VR platform that eliminates the fear of public speaking

Open-Source AI matches top proprietary model in solving tough medical cases

Good fences make good neighbors (with carnivores)

NRG Oncology trial supports radiotherapy alone following radical hysterectomy should remain the standard of care for early-stage, intermediate-risk cervical cancer

Introducing our new cohort of AGA Future Leaders

Sharks are dying at alarming rates, mostly due to fishing. Retention bans may help

Engineering excellence: Engineers with ONR ties elected to renowned scientific academy

New CRISPR-based diagnostic test detects pathogens in blood without amplification

Immunotherapy may boost KRAS-targeted therapy in pancreatic cancer

Growing solar: Optimizing agrivoltaic systems for crops and clean energy

Scientists discover how to reactivate cancer’s molecular “kill switch”

YouTube influencers: gaming’s best friend or worst enemy?

uOttawa scientists use light to unlock secret of atoms

NJIT mathematician to help map Earth's last frontier with Navy grant

NASA atmospheric wave-studying mission releases data from first 3,000 orbits

‘Microlightning’ in water droplets may have sparked life on Earth

Smoke from wildland-urban interface fires more deadly than remote wildfires

What’s your body really worth? New AI model reveals your true biological age from 5 drops of blood

Protein accidentally lassos itself, helping explain unusual refolding behavior

With bird flu in raw milk, many in U.S. still do not know risks of consuming it

University of Minnesota research team awarded $3.8 million grant to develop cell therapy to combat Alzheimer’s disease

UConn uncovers new clue on what is leading to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and ALS

Resuscitation in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest – it’s how quickly it is done, rather than who does it

A closer look at biomolecular ‘silly putty’

Oxytocin system of breastfeeding affected in mothers with postnatal depression

Liquid metal-enabled synergetic cooling and charging: a leap forward for electric vehicles

[Press-News.org] UCI researchers find sea anemone venom-derived compound effective in anti-obesity studies
Metabolic activity enhanced by ShK-186 synthetic compound, may work on other obesity induced disease manifestations