Unwelcome Sea Visitors Also Precious?… KIOST Discovers Dementia-Inhibiting Substance in Jellyfish Venom

Expectations for Treatment Development by Inhibiting Formation of Dementia-Causing Substances

Domestic researchers have discovered a substance in jellyfish venom that inhibits dementia, attracting attention from the global academic and medical communities.

The Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST, President Kang Do-hyung) announced on the 18th that they have discovered peptides that inhibit the formation of amyloid-beta plaques, known as the causative agent of dementia, from jellyfish venom proteins and have completed the registration of two patents.

According to KIOST, Dr. Yeom Seung-sik's research team extracted information on venom proteins expected to act on the nervous system from the genomic data of the toxic jellyfish species "Jageunsangjahaepari" (small box jellyfish), which mainly appears off the southern coast of Korea, and "Malreyeohaepari" (Malayan box jellyfish), which mainly inhabits subtropical regions. They synthesized some of these proteins and began functional analysis.

As a result, they confirmed that the peptide "CBRV1-04369" extracted from the "Jageunsangjahaepari" and the substance "SMA-04088-2" extracted from the "Malreyeohaepari" inhibit the oligomerization and fibrillation of amyloid-beta, thereby preventing the formation of amyloid plaques known to cause dementia. Subsequently, they jointly registered patents with Professor An Seong-su and Professor Jang Geun-ah's research teams at Gachon University.

With the rapid global aging population, interest in the prevention and treatment of age-related diseases such as dementia is surging. Based on these research results, if follow-up studies continue, it is expected to be effective in improving dementia.

This research was conducted as part of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries' projects "Development of Marine Protein-Based Biomedical Materials" (Research Director: Dr. Lee Jeong-hyun, KIOST) and "Post-Genome Multi-Ministry Genome Project" under "Production and Analysis of Marine Animal Genome Information" (Research Director: Dr. Yeom Seung-sik, KIOST).

President Kang Do-hyung emphasized, "The research achievement is significant in that it increased the possibility of jellyfish venom, a harmful marine organism, being utilized as a useful marine bioresource," and added, "We will promote follow-up research to ensure that future research outcomes lead to commercialization."