{"id":174901,"date":"2026-11-04T14:36:55","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T20:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/?p=174901"},"modified":"2026-11-10T15:25:15","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T21:25:15","slug":"frog-protein-and-insulin-resistance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/health\/frog-protein-and-insulin-resistance\/","title":{"rendered":"How Traditional Knowledge led to the Study of a Protein from Frog Skin Against Insulin Resistance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A protein extracted from frog skin could contribute to the development of new treatments against insulin resistance, oxidative stress, and inflammation, three processes related to diseases such as type 2 diabetes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a recent study, a group of researchers used genetic engineering tools to produce this molecule \u2014called arenin<\/strong>\u2014 in large quantities and then tested it on three types of cells grown in the laboratory to investigate whether it had metabolic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant action<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“One single molecule showed biological activity in three processes, which is not common, but it is desirable because it opens up possibilities for studying its potential biomedical applications,\u201d says Enrique Hidalgo<\/a>, research specialist at the Institute for Obesity Research<\/a> (IOR) of Tecnol\u00f3gico de Monterrey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In previous research, arenin, a protein extracted from the Dryophytes arenicolor <\/em>frog \u2014better known as the canyon frog<\/strong>\u2014had been shown to inhibit the growth of microorganisms<\/strong>, but researchers wondered if it could also intervene in other processes related to metabolic diseases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amphibians, like this frog, produce substances in their skin that help them defend themselves against microorganisms, environmental threats, and predators. Some of these molecules have properties that could be used in medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe still need many experiments to know its exact function<\/strong>, but what we do know gives us an idea of \u200b\u200bwhy it has so many different activities,\u201d says Hidalgo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experiments showed that arenin can improve glucose uptake, reduce reactive oxygen species, and modulate the immune response of cultured cells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Traditional Knowledge to Genetic Engineering<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This line of research began in 2018, when Jes\u00fas Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a>, senior scientist at Core Lab Genomics<\/a>, in collaboration with Hidalgo and researcher Jorge Benavides<\/a>, identified and characterized an unknown protein in the secretions of the frog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The protein belongs to a family known as Kunitz-type protease inhibitors, which can block enzymes responsible for degrading other proteins<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their interest in studying it arose from accounts of Mexican communities who rubbed this animal on their skin to promote wound healing and prevent infections<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, traditional knowledge inspired the question of the molecules behind those benefits. “All that ancestral knowledge we have in Mexico \u2013which we often ignore\u2013 is not foreign to science<\/strong>,\u201d Hidalgo reflects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From there, the team dedicated themselves to investigating the various properties of arenin, which they named after the frog from which it was extracted. However, to study it in depth, it would have been necessary to constantly manipulate wild frogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo obtain it we would have had to sacrifice many frogs, which is not something that we wanted,\u201d the researcher recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hidalgo proposed using genetic engineering to introduce into bacterial cultures<\/strong> the instructions necessary for them to manufacture the molecule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once modified to produce it, they can be grown in large quantities and then researchers break the bacterial cells, recover the protein and purify it for experiments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These biotechnology tools are fundamental because they allow us to study biodiversity without harming it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One Molecule, Three Biological Activities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once produced and purified, Hidalgo and his colleagues tested arenin on three types of cells grown in the laboratory:<\/p>\n\n\n\n