Researchers at The University of Queensland have found that a native Latest Zealand stinging tree produces toxins that might hold clues for future pain medication.
In a quest to seek out recent molecules that affect pain pathways, Dr Thomas Durek, Dr Sam Robinson and a team from UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) studied toxins from the tree nettle often known as ongaonga, one among Latest Zealand’s most poisonous plants that may cause painful stings that last for days, and in severe cases may even be fatal.
Dr Robinson and a team from UQ previously investigated toxins present in an Australian gympie-gympie stinging tree but found the Latest Zealand tree nettle toxins activated pain receptors in a recent way.
We discovered that the Latest Zealand nettle tree toxins goal the identical receptor as their Australian counterparts, but they cause pain otherwise.
The Australian stinging tree and Latest Zealand tree nettle are each members of the nettle family, but separated thousands and thousands of years ago and have evolved in another way.
The Latest Zealand tree nettle can grow as much as 4 meters tall and its leaves and stems are covered with stinging hairs that pierce the skin and deliver venom which causes long-lasting pain.”
Dr Sam Robinson, UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience
Fossil stays show that the massive flightless bird, the Moa, had a liking for eating the tree nettle and it’s likely the strong toxins evolved to fend off the now-extinct bird.
The team faced challenges throughout the study as a result of international COVID travel restrictions.
“COVID made it difficult to source nettles, but to maintain our research going through the pandemic, we managed to source seeds from the Latest Zealand tree nettle and grow the plant under quarantine within the lab,” Dr Robinson said.
Professor Irina Vetter, Director of IMB’s Centre for Pain Research, said understanding pain pathways was key to finding recent ways to treat chronic pain.
“Animal venoms have been studied for a long time but plants have evolved toxins in another way, and this offers us a probability to seek out molecules that work in a singular way,” Professor Vetter said.
“Our goal is to tackle pain more effectively without unintended effects and addiction.”
The research team included IMB’s Dr Edward Gilding and Ms Jing Xie.
With travel bans lifting, Dr Gilding plans to go to Vietnam later this yr to experience “anything that stings” and is applying for funding to also visit Madagascar and South America to widen the web.
“There are several hundred nettles within the Urticaceae family with stinging hairs all over the world -; we’re keen to match how they’ve evolved and whether or not they all use the identical toxins,” Dr Gilding said.
The research is published within the Journal of Biological Chemistry and was funded by organizations including the Australian Research Council and the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Source:
The University of Queensland
Journal reference:
Xie, J., et al. (2022) Neurotoxic and cytotoxic peptides underlie the painful stings of the tree nettle Urtica ferox. Journal of Biological Chemistry. doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102218.