Chemical protects against viral infections: dogfish shark

1 of 1 Squalus acanthias / None / License

Chemical compound, squalamine, in dogfish shark protects against viral infections by disrupting the membrane interactions needed for viral replication.

Biomimicry Taxonomy

	Maintain physical integrity >
	Protect from biotic factors >
	Microbes

Biomimetic Application Ideas

Antiviral drugs

> Visit strategy page

[Collapse all sections] Summary

Dogfish sharks have powerful natural immunity to viral infections. "Antiviral compounds that increase the resistance of host tissues represent an attractive class of therapeutic. Here, we show that squalamine, a compound previously isolated from the tissues of the dogfish shark (Squalus acanthias) and the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), exhibits broad-spectrum antiviral activity against human pathogens, which were studied in vitro as well as in vivo. Both RNA- and DNA-enveloped viruses are shown to be susceptible. The proposed mechanism involves the capacity of squalamine, a cationic amphipathic sterol, to neutralize the negative electrostatic surface charge of intracellular membranes in a way that renders the cell less effective in supporting viral replication. Because squalamine can be readily synthesized and has a known safety profile in man, we believe its potential as a broad-spectrum human antiviral agent should be explored." (Zasloff et al. 2011: 15978)

About the inspiring organism

Dogfish shark
Squalus acanthias (non Linnaeus, 1758)
[Spurdog]

IUCN Red List Status: Vulnerable
Habitat(s): Marine Neritic, Marine Oceanic

Some organism data provided by: FishBase
Organism/taxonomy data provided by:
Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2008 Annual Checklist

Bioinspired products and application ideas

Application Ideas: Antiviral drugs

Industrial Sector(s) interested in this strategy: Medical

References

Zasloff M; Adams AP; Beckerman B; Ann Campbell A; Han Z; Luijten E; Meza I; Julander J; Mishra A; Qu W; Taylor JM; Weaver SC; Wong GCL. 2011. Squalamine as a broad-spectrum systemic antiviral agent with therapeutic potential. PNAS. 108(38): 15978-15983.

Chemical protects against viral infections: dogfish shark

Content tools

Curator of this page

Comments