Preliminary Results of the in Vivo and in Vitro Characterization of a Tentacle Venom Fraction from the Jellyfish Aurelia aurita

Abstract

The neurotoxic effects produced by a tentacle venom extract and a fraction were analyzed and correlated by in vivo and in vitro approaches. The tentacle venom extract exhibited a wide range of protein components (from 24 to >225 kDa) and produced tetanic reactions, flaccid paralysis, and death when injected into crabs. Two chromatography fractions also produced uncontrolled appendix movements and leg stretching. Further electrophysiological characterization demonstrated that one of these fractions potently inhibited ACh-elicited currents mediated by both vertebrate fetal and adult muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) subtypes. Receptor inhibition was concentration-dependent and completely reversible. The calculated IC50 values were 1.77 μg/μL for fetal and 2.28 μg/μL for adult muscle nAChRs. The bioactive fraction was composed of a major protein component at ~90 kDa and lacked phospholipase A activity. This work represents the first insight into the interaction of jellyfish venom components and muscle nicotinic receptors.

Marine Natural Products from the Yucatan Peninsula

“…Out of the 66 marine natural products identified, 26 correspond to structures that were not previously reported. These 26 new chemical entities correspond to three aliphatic polyketides (1-3), one glycolipid (7), two diterpenes (15,16), two steroids (24,25), one triterpenoid saponin (40), and 17 conotoxins (49)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54)(55)(56)(57)(58)(59)(60)(61)(62)(63)(64)(65). Figure 15 displays the overall biogenetic distribution of the reported compounds.…”

Bioactive toxins from stinging jellyfish

“…Lethality and dermonecrosis were observed in mice, with variation in the potency depending on the origin of the specimen (Radwan et al, 2001). Mortality was also observed in shrimps (Artemia salina) (Segura-Puertas et al, 2002) and in crabs with symptoms of neurotoxicity (Segura-Puertas et al, 2002;Ponce et al, 2013). The venom is hemolytic to human, sheep, and bovine red blood cells (Radwan et al, 2001;Segura-Puertas et al, 2002;Rastogi et al, 2012).…”

“…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.…”

“…The venom was purified by chromatography and the neurotoxic activity of some fractions was characterized (Segura-Puertas et al, 2002;Ponce et al, 2013). In the most recent study, two fractions (n 4 and 5) were neurotoxic to adult ghost crabs in vivo and one fraction (n 4), inhibited the activation of muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) by acetylcholine in a reversible and dose dependent manner.…”

Phyllosomas of smooth fan lobsters (<i>Ibacus novemdentatus</i>) encase jellyfish cnidae in peritrophic membranes in their feces

“…Jellyfish consume planktonic crustaceans such as copepods (Ishii & Tanaka 2001) and shrimp (Carrette et al 2002) utilizing various types of tentacle cnidae including penetrant, venom-filled nematocysts (Tardent 1995, Nagai 2012, Ponce et al 2013. During nematocyst discharge, venom-filled tubules explosively penetrate the cuticle of the prey (Tardent & Holstein 1982, Purcell 1984 and inject their venom through the tubules (Lotan et al 1996, Yanagihara et al 2002.…”