Fish-hunting cone snail disrupts prey’s glucose homeostasis with weaponized mimetics of somatostatin and insulin

Abstract

Venomous animals have evolved diverse molecular mechanisms to incapacitate prey and defend against predators. Most venom components disrupt nervous, locomotor, and cardiovascular systems or cause tissue damage. The discovery that certain fish-hunting cone snails use weaponized insulins to induce hypoglycemic shock in prey highlights a unique example of toxins targeting glucose homeostasis. Here, we show that, in addition to insulins, the deadly fish hunter, Conus geographus, uses a selective somatostatin receptor 2 (SSTR₂) agonist that blocks the release of the insulin-counteracting hormone glucagon, thereby exacerbating insulin-induced hypoglycemia in prey. The native toxin, Consomatin nG1, exists in several proteoforms with a minimized vertebrate somatostatin-like core motif connected to a heavily glycosylated N-terminal region. We demonstrate that the toxin’s N-terminal tail closely mimics a glycosylated somatostatin from fish pancreas and is crucial for activating the fish SSTR₂. Collectively, these findings provide a stunning example of chemical mimicry, highlight the combinatorial nature of venom components, and establish glucose homeostasis as an effective target for prey capture.

Venomous animals typically disrupt nervous, locomotor, and cardiovascular systems to incapacitate prey, but certain fish-hunting cone snails evolved toxins that specifically target glucose homeostasis. Here, the authors show the combinatorial nature of weaponized insulin and somatostatin mimetics, exemplifying the use of combinatorial chemical mimicry for prey capture.