# Leveraging snakes' extreme physiology to modulate human beta-cell function

> **NIH NIH R01** · BROAD INSTITUTE, INC. · 2020 · $461,308

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Diabetes afflicts 366 million worldwide and results in one death every 7 seconds, with 80% of deaths
occurring in low- and middle-income countries. Additionally, diabetes creates $465 billion in healthcare costs
every year. Central to the pathology of type 1 and 2 diabetes is dysfunction and death of insulin-producing
beta cells. Our search for mechanisms to prevent beta-cell dysfunction and death, and to regenerate the lost
beta-cell mass, led us to organisms with extreme metabolic physiology. Through millions of years of
evolution, extreme organisms have arisen that thrive under conditions otherwise pathological to humans. One
such group of organisms are binge-eating snakes, whose beta cells survive under conditions that are
pathological to human beta cells. We have identified a group of such snakes whose beta cells can withstand
hypoxia, hyperoxia, lipotoxic stress, and undergo non-pathologic hypertrophy when these snakes eat their
large meals. Further, our data suggests that these snakes possess molecules that can induce desirable
phenotypes in mammalian beta cells. The goal of this proposal is to identify the molecules that enhance
human beta-cell mass and function. We also propose to delineate the signaling pathways that underlie the
other extreme phenotypes exhibited by the beta cells of these snakes, with the ultimate aim of manipulate
these pathways in human beta cells using small molecules.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9986775
- **Project number:** 5R01DK113597-05
- **Recipient organization:** BROAD INSTITUTE, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Amit Choudhary
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $461,308
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-09-25 → 2021-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9986775

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9986775, Leveraging snakes' extreme physiology to modulate human beta-cell function (5R01DK113597-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9986775. Licensed CC0.

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