Chemical and biochemical study on venomous jellyfish proteinaceous toxins

有毒水母蛋白质毒素的化学生化研究

基本信息

批准号：
11660210
负责人：
NAGAI Hiroshi
金额：
$ 2.24万
依托单位：
TOKYO UNIVERSITY OF FISHERIES (2001-2002)Suntory Institute for Bioorganic Research (1999-2000)
依托单位国家：
日本
项目类别：
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
财政年份：
1999
资助国家：
日本
起止时间：
1999 至 2002
项目状态：
已结题

项目摘要

Members of the phylum Cnidaria (corals, sea anemones, jellyfishes) are equipped with nemaotocysts (stinging cells) which they use in capturing prey and for defense. Many cnidarians are considered hazardous sea-creatures due to the toxicity inflicted by their sting. The sting of some jellyfishes, such as Chironex fleckeri, Chropsalmus quadrigatus and Physalia Physalis have been reported to be lethal to humans. Cnidarian toxins have been extensively studied and chemically characterized as mostly proteinaceous. The exact chemical properties of cnidarian toxins have not been elucidated due to their labile nature, except for some moderately stable neurotoxic polypeptides from sea anemones. Recently, we have developed a novel purification method for isolating unstable proteinaceous toxins from jellyfish. This purification method has resulted in the isolation of active protein toxins from three species of box jellyfishes (sea wasps), Carybdea rastoni, Carybdea alota and Chropslmus quadrigatus. C. rastoni is one of the most annoying sea-creatures for swimmers and bathers in Japan. C. alata is a common stinger in Hawaii. The sting of these three Species has been documented to induce cutaneous pain and inflammation in humans. Lt has been reported that the sting of C. quadrigatus from Okinawan resulted in three fatalities. RT-PCR and 5'-/3'-RACE methods were used to elucidate the full-length nucleotide and amino acid sequences of the isolated proteinaceous toxins from C. rastoni, C alata and C. quadrigatus Comparison between the proteinaceous toxins (43-45 kDa) from the three jellyfishes demonstrated 22-44% homology. Since these toxins did not show any homology with any other known protein, it is suggested that these toxins represent a novel class of bioastie proteins.

刺胞动物门的成员（珊瑚、海葵、水母）都配备有线囊（刺细胞），用于捕获猎物和防御。许多刺胞动物因其蜇伤而被认为是危险的海洋生物。据报道，一些水母的蜇伤对人类来说是致命的，例如水母、红水母和酸浆水母。刺胞动物毒素已被广泛研究，其化学特征主要为蛋白质。除了来自海葵的一些中等稳定的神经毒性多肽外，刺胞动物毒素的确切化学性质由于其不稳定的性质尚未阐明。最近，我们开发了一种从水母中分离不稳定蛋白质毒素的新型纯化方法。这种纯化方法已从三种箱形水母（海黄蜂）（Carybdea rastoni、Carybdea alota 和 Chropslmus squarerigatus）中分离出活性蛋白毒素。 C. rastoni 是日本游泳者和沐浴者最讨厌的海洋生物之一。 C. alata 是夏威夷常见的毒刺。据记录，这三种物种的螫刺会引起人类皮肤疼痛和炎症。据报道，来自冲绳的方角蝽螫刺导致三人死亡。采用 RT-PCR 和 5'-/3'-RACE 方法阐明了从 C. rastoni、C. alata 和 C.quadrigatus 中分离的蛋白质毒素的全长核苷酸和氨基酸序列，比较了蛋白质毒素之间的比较（43- 45 kDa）来自三种水母的同源性为 22-44%。由于这些毒素与任何其他已知蛋白质没有表现出任何同源性，因此表明这些毒素代表了一类新的生物活性蛋白质。