In acromegaly, excess production of growth hormone triggers aberrant growth of body tissues . Researchers at the University of Geneva in Switzerland sought to develop new therapeutic approaches for treating acromegaly.
Led by Dr. Emmanuel Somm, the team modified a Botulinum neurotoxin to specifically target pituitary somatotroph cells that secrete growth hormone. When given to rats, the recombinant protein reduced growth hormone synthesis and secretion.
Reflecting this change, the body weight gain, body length, organ weight, and bone mass acquisition were all decreased in treated animals. These results provide promising preclinical data to support that engineered Botulinum neurotoxin to can be retargeted to non-neural cells to selectively inhibit hormone secretion.
TITLE: A botulinum toxin-derived targeted secretion inhibitor downregulates the GH/IGF1 axis