Snake Venom Scientists Unveil Groundbreaking Organ-on-a-Chip Technology
A team of researchers has made a major breakthrough in understanding the deadly effects of snake venom on blood vessels, claiming to have developed an artificial system that can accurately mimic the human circulatory system. Annually, around 400,000 people die from snakebites worldwide, with internal bleeding being one of the most devastating effects of snake venom.
The researchers created an organ-on-a-chip model of blood vessels that allows them to study exactly how snake venom breaks down and causes bleeding. Published in Scientific Reports, their groundbreaking results show that venoms from different snake species work differently to break down blood vessels.
"This is a very good contribution to our field because it allows us to study the mechanism of toxicity in this very well-defined model," said José María Gutiérrez Gutiérrez, a toxicologist at the University of Costa Rica. "[The study] furthers our understanding of the mechanism of action of hemorrhagic toxins because it reproduces the real dynamics of blood flow in blood vessels".
Researchers were previously unable to accurately replicate the effects of snake venom on blood vessels using static models. Biologist Mátyás Bittenbinder and chemist Jeroen Kool from Vrije University Amsterdam developed a 3D tubular structure that resembles blood vessels, allowing them to test venoms from four common snake species: West African carpet viper, many-banded krait, Mozambique spitting cobra, and Indian cobra.
The researchers found that all four snake venoms elicited blood vessel leakage, although some more than others and at different time points. However, the mechanisms of action were distinct, with the venom from the West African carpet viper seeming to disrupt the endothelial cell layer, while others directly disrupted the cellular membrane and killed off the endothelial cells.
The new technology enables scientists to study specific toxins in venom and identify the components responsible for damage. Researchers can also run high-throughput screens of molecules that could stop the damaging effects of venoms, claiming this will be invaluable in developing new treatments.
"This is not a miracle bullet that will bring medicines to the world, but it's another tool that is valuable in being better able to develop new treatments," said Kool. The breakthrough marks an exciting development in understanding one of the most deadly forms of animal venom, and scientists are now poised to use this technology to develop new treatments for snakebite victims.