Firing the Sting: Chemically Induced Discharge of  Cnidae Reveals Novel Proteins and Peptides from  Box Jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri) Venom

Jouiaei, Mahdokht; Casewell, Nicholas R.; Yanagihara, Angel A.; Nouwens, Amanda; Cribb, Bronwen W.; Whitehead, Darryl L.; Jackson, Timothy N. W.; Ali, Syed Abid; Wagstaff, Simon C.; Koludarov, Ivan; Alewood, Paul F.; Hansen, Jay

doi:10.3390/toxins7030936

Cited by 55 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Toxin mixture is injected into the prey's skin and subcutaneous tissues (arrow). The figure was drawn according to the data in references [14,29,34,35].…”

Section: Cnidarian Venom Delivery Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These functions are commonly associated with several of the recurrent symptoms of sting such as skin damage, oedema, blister formation, myonecrosis and inflammation [100]. Metalloproteases were detected in the venom of jellyfish Stomolophus meleagris [12] and C. fleckeri [14]. A recent study focused on the enzymatic and cytotoxic functions of jellyfish metalloproteases and identified diverse proteolytic effects including gelatinolytic, caseinolytic, and fibrinolytic activities [47].…”

Section: Metalloproteasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since 1908 numerous traditional remedies such as urea, seawater, vinegar, methylated spirits etc. have been used to inactivate the undischarged nematocysts on the adhered tentacles and/or to alleviate pain [14,34,143,144]. These chemicals have been used to varying degrees of success, ranging from complete success in certain species to complete failure in others.…”

Section: Envenomationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example box jellyfish still remain one of the most medically important cnidarian venoms worldwide with limited therapeutics on offer. Therefore transcriptomics and proteomics data for the identification and characterising of their venom components is rapidly accumulating in recent times [12][13][14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most venomics studies to date have been using whole venom (shotgun) proteomics, 2-D fractionation (ion-exchange followed by HPLC) and SDS-PAGE electrophoresis in order to discover the maximal number of proteins in a sample [14,91,99,241].…”

Section: Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analyses 41 Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evolution and diversification of the cnidarian venom system

Jouiaei¹

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The phylum Cnidaria (corals, sea pens, sea anemones, jellyfish and hydroids) is the oldest venomous animal lineage (~750 million years old), making it an ideal phylum to understand the origin and diversification of venom. Cnidarians are characterised by specialised cellular structures called cnidae, which they utilise to inject mixtures of bioactive compounds or venom for predation and defence. In recent years cnidarian venoms have begun to be investigated as a potential source of novel bioactive therapeutics. However, in comparison with several venomous lineages that are relatively younger, such as snakes, cone snails and spiders, the diversification and molecular evolutionary regimes of toxins encoded by these fascinating and ancient animals remain poorly understood.The first experimental part of this thesis (Chapter 2) is comprised of the phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary histories of pharmacologically characterised cnidarian toxin families. These include peptide neurotoxins (voltage-gated Na + and K + channel-targeting toxins: NaTxs and KTxs, respectively), pore-forming toxins (actinoporins, aerolysin-related toxins, and jellyfish toxins) and small cysteine-rich peptides (SCRiPs). Our analyses show that most cnidarian toxins remain conserved under the strong influence of negative selection. A deeper analysis of the molecular evolutionary histories of neurotoxins demonstrates that type III KTxs have evolved from NaTxs under the regime of positive selection and likely represent a unique evolutionary innovation of the Actinioidea lineage. We also identify a few functionally important sites in other classes of neurotoxins and pore-forming toxins that experienced episodic adaptation. In addition, we describe the first family of neurotoxic peptides (SCRiPs) in reef-building corals, Acropora millepora, that are likely involved in the envenoming function.The third chapter describes the development of a novel venom extraction technique which is rapid, repeatable and cost effective. This technique involves using ethanol to both induce cnidae discharge and to recover venom contents in one step. Our model species is the notorious Australian box jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri) which has a notable impact on public health. By using the complementary approaches of transcriptomics, proteomics, mass spectrometry, histology, and scanning electron microscopy, this study compares the proteome profile of the new ethanol recovery based method to a previously reported protocol, based upon density purified intact cnidae and pressure induced disruption. This work not only results in the expansion of identified Australian box jellyfish venom components but also illustrates that ethanol extraction method could greatly augment future cnidarian venom proteomics research efforts.The forth chapter is constituted by previously described venom extraction technique, ethanolinduced discharge of cnidae, to rapidly and efficiently characterise venom components of the Jelly Blubber or Blue Blubber Jellyfish, Catostylus mosaicus. By us...

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“…Toxin mixture is injected into the prey's skin and subcutaneous tissues (arrow). The figure was drawn according to the data in references [14,29,34,35].…”

Section: Cnidarian Venom Delivery Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Metalloproteasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Envenomationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analyses 41 Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evolution and diversification of the cnidarian venom system

Jouiaei¹

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Dermatitis Caused by Coelenterates

Bonamonte

Filoni

Verni

et al. 2016

Aquatic Dermatology

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Cnidarian Jellyfish: Ecological Aspects, Nematocyst Isolation, and Treatment Methods of Sting

Killi

Mariottini

2018

Results and Problems in Cell Differentiation

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Cnidarians play an important role in ecosystem functioning, in the competition among species, and for possible utilization of several active compounds against cardiovascular, nervous, endocrine, immune, infective, and inflammatory disorders or having antitumoral properties, which have been extracted from these organisms. Nevertheless, notwithstanding these promising features, the main reason for which cnidarians are known is due to their venomousness as they have a serious impact on public health as well as in economy being able to affect some human activities. For this reason a preeminent subject of the research about cnidarians is the organization of proper systems and methods of care and treatment of stinging. This chapter aims to present the data about the morphological, ecological, toxicological, epidemiological, and therapeutic aspects regarding cnidarians with the purpose to summarize the existing knowledge and to stimulate future perspectives in the research on these organisms.

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Firing the Sting: Chemically Induced Discharge of Cnidae Reveals Novel Proteins and Peptides from Box Jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri) Venom

Cited by 55 publications

References 42 publications

Evolution and diversification of the cnidarian venom system

Evolution and diversification of the cnidarian venom system

Dermatitis Caused by Coelenterates

Cnidarian Jellyfish: Ecological Aspects, Nematocyst Isolation, and Treatment Methods of Sting

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