Kartik Sunagar
Universal Antivenom?
Synthetic development of a broadly neutralizing antibody against snake venom long-chain α-neurotoxins
Our collaborative paper on the development of a human monoclonal antibody for treating neurotoxic snakebites from different regions of the world is featured on the cover of STM!
Our mAb can neutralise whole venoms of King cobra in the Western Ghats, monocellate cobra in Eastern India, many-banded krait in Southeast Asia and black mamba in Sub-Saharan Africa.
It is efficient even when administered 20 minutes post venom injection and requires lesser amounts!
Since it is fully synthetic, it can be mass-produced in cell lines, avoiding the need to immunise animals.
The cherry on top of the cake is that it features a picture of a cobra photographed by Kartik on IISc campus.
In the Evolutionary Venomics Lab at the Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES), Indian Institute of Science (IISC), we investigate venomous animals and their venoms as model systems to address basic but broad questions in evolutionary biology and genetics. Using state-of-the-art technologies across multiple disciplines, we examine the fascinating evolutionary histories of the enigmatic lineages of venomous animals and their venoms.
A particular emphasis is placed on characterizing the composition, toxicity profiles and evolutionary dynamics of venoms of the ‘big four’ snakes in India, as the lab will strive to deliver advanced antivenom with a commensurate improvement in safety, specificity, and affordability of treatment. The protein composition, and hence the pathogenic potential of venoms, can exhibit dramatic geographical variation, with different populations of the same species having starkly distinct venom profiles and, consequently, resulting in a significantly reduced antivenom efficiency. Therefore, the lab will unravel intra- and interspecific venom variability in medically significant Indian snakes and utilize this information for the molecular design of effective snakebite therapy.
The other broad aims of the lab include (a) investigating genomes, transcriptomes and proteomes of neglected venomous lineages (e.g., scorpions, spiders, centipedes, jellyfish, Hymenoptera, etc.) to understand the molecular basis of venom production, regulation, and evolutionary diversification; (b) understanding the genetic basis of venom resistance in the venomous animal and its prey/predators; (c) unravelling the evolutionary forces that have shaped the current distribution of venomous animals in the Indian subcontinent, and (d) investigating the therapeutic potential of venom proteins.
Funders
DBT-IISc Partnership Program for Advanced Research in Biological Sciences and BioEngineering
What's new?
Publication
Our paper on the comparative venomics and clinical relevance of pit viper venoms from the Western Ghats has been accepted.
Our paper on the origin and diversification of spider venom is online.
