Chironex fleckeri (Box Jellyfish) Venom Proteins

Abstract

Background: Box jellyfish produce a unique family of toxic venom proteins. Results: The toxins are structurally similar, yet two subgroups confer different cytolytic activities in red blood cells and cardiovascular effects in rats. Conclusion: Diversification within the toxin family may influence toxin function/specificity. Significance: Characterization of the toxins provides new insight into their potential roles in human envenoming.

Bioactive toxins from stinging jellyfish

“…Conversely, the hemolytic activity of CfTX-1/-2 is 30 times lower than the one of CfTX-A/-B. Furthermore, antibodies raised against CfTX-1/-2 do not react with CfTX-A/-B (Brinkman and Burnell, 2008;Brinkman et al, 2014). Homologies in the amino-acid sequence were found within this group of toxins and between Cf-TXs and other jellyfish pore-forming toxins.…”

“…Chironex fleckeri Lethal, hemolytic, cardiotoxic, dermonecrotic, pore forming, and cytotoxic activities were observed using crude venom or partially purified fractions (Brinkman and Burnell, 2009;Saggiomo and Seymour, 2012;Pereira and Seymour, 2013;Yanagihara and Shohet, 2012). Four pore forming toxins have been identified and purified from venom extracted from nematocysts: CfTX-1 and CfTX-2 Burnell, 2007, 2008) and CfTX-A and CfTX-B (Brinkman et al, 2014). The molecular weight, measured by SDS-PAGE, is: CfTX-1: 43 kDA, CfTX-2: 45 kDA, CfTX-A: 40 kDA and CfTX-B: 42 kDA.…”

“…The crude venom and purified CfTX-s are cytotoxic to the A7r5 cell line (rat aorta smooth muscle) in a dose-dependent way (Konstantakopoulos et al, 2009;Brinkman et al, 2014). Human cells from skeletal and cardiac muscles have also been used to evaluate the cardiotoxicity of the venom (Saggiomo and Seymour, 2012;Pereira and Seymour, 2013;Chaousis et al, 2014).…”

“…Common techniques include size exclusion chromatography, ion exchange chromatography, reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography, affinity chromatography, or some combination thereof (Nagai et al, 2000a;Helmholz et al, 2008;Lassen et al, 2011;Ponce et al, 2013;Brinkman et al, 2014). Effective purification is guided by assessing the bioactivity of each of the fractions (Lassen et al, 2011.…”

“…Amino acid sequences are available for some purified toxins (Brinkman et al, 2014;Lassen et al, 2011Lassen et al, , 2012Li et al, 2012). DNA and RNA sequencing have been conducted for Carukia barnesi, Malo kingi (Avila Soria, 2009), and Aurelia aurita.…”