New protein therapy shows promise as antidote for carbon monoxide poisoning

breve | 224 points

Here's the full sequence of the protein, found in the supplement [1]

KSSEPASVSAAERRAETEQHKLEQENPGIVWLDQHGRVTAENDVALQILGPAGEQSLGVAQDSLEGIDVVQLHPEKSRDKLRFLLQSKDVGGSPVKSPPPVAMMINIPDRILMIKVSSMIAAGGASGTSMIFYDVTDLTTEPSGLPAGGSAPSHHHHHH

It is a protein encoding the PxRcoM-1 heme binding domain with C94S mutation and a C-terminal 6xHis tag (RcoM-HBD-C94S)

[1] https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2501389122#supplementa...

jfarlow | 3 days ago

> Infused in the bloodstream, scavenger hemoproteins like RcoM-HBD-CCC rapidly bind to carbon monoxide molecules, reducing the time it takes to clear half of the carbon monoxide in the blood to less than a minute, compared to more than hour with pure oxygen therapy and five hours without any treatment.

hinkley | 3 days ago

This research was funded by multiple NIH grants, a Department of Defense grant, and the Martin Family Foundation.

searine | 3 days ago

The existing methylene blue substance is also effective in cases of CO poisoning.

1933 paper:

https://journals.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/ajplegacy.19...

"Methylene Blue as an Antidote to CO Poisoning", Matilda Moldenhauer Brooks

kazinator | 3 days ago

CO poisioning is one of those strange cases treatable using scuba diving. Recompression therapy, which can be theoretically aped under water, can be like magic. In some cases the patient just wakes up like nothing is wrong. No drugs. No invasive treatment. Get deep enough and hemoglobin isnt totally necessary for getting O2 where it needs to be.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470531/

sandworm101 | 3 days ago

I guess CO kills you because it sticks to a protein (Hemoglobin), this is a protein that it binds even tighter to.

What I find hilarious though is that my RSS reader loves to show me articles about ways of turning the harmful gas CO2 into the useful gas CO, back when I was a kid it was the other way around!

PaulHoule | 2 days ago

not very on topic, but for those who missed one of the more surreal reddit threads in history:

- [MA] Post-it notes left in apartment [0]

- and the update from OP a while later [1]

[0]: https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/34l7vo/ma_post...

[1]: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/49zfvb/what_is_t...

bananapub | 3 days ago

How is this administered? Seems like a crucial detail to omit.

dtgriscom | 3 days ago
[deleted]
| 3 days ago

This looks like a therapy you can only get once in your life, after which it has acted like a vaccine and your immune system would react to it.

pfdietz | 3 days ago

>New Protein Therapy Shows Promise as Antidote for Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

So Shatner was right all along: not only is Promise Margarine good for lowering your cholesterol level, but it can also treat carbon monoxide poisoning! And it tastes like butter, promise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3wf717fKFE

DonHopkins | 3 days ago

[flagged]

heyoleftycunts | 3 days ago

[flagged]

narrator | 3 days ago