Laboratory for Research on Biologically Compatible Compounds, Faculty of Dentistry, Rue Avicenne, 5019 Monastir, Tunisia.
Environ Toxicol. 2014 Mar;29(3):337-44. doi: 10.1002/tox.21762. Epub 2012 Feb 13.
Studies on the toxicity of Mediterranean jellyfish have gained attention owing to their weak toxic properties. Our research has been mainly performed on the Scyphomedusae. Pelagia noctiluca is a scyphozoan jellyfish which causes a danger to sea bathers and fishery damages in the Mediterranean Sea. To check whether the cytotoxicity of Pelagia noctiluca nematocysts was associated to DNA lesions, we have looked for DNA fragmentation by means of the Comet and chromosome aberration assays. To specify cell death pathway, we have investigated caspase-3 activation. Our results have shown that nematocysts reduced cell viability and induced DNA fragmentation in a concentration-dependent manner with a maximum effect at 150 000 nematocysts mL(-1). The high percentage of chromosome aberrations also emphasized the genotoxic character of Pelagia noctiluca nematocysts in Vero cells. This fragmentation was correlated to apoptosis induction which was confirmed by caspase-3 activation. In conclusion, the present report has suggested that Pelagia noctiluca nematocysts were able to promote apoptosis in Vero cells and therefore may be useful in cancer therapy.
由于地中海水母的毒性较弱，对其毒性的研究受到了关注。我们的研究主要集中在钵水母纲上。夜光游水母是一种钵水母，它对地中海的游泳者和渔业造成了危害。为了检查夜光游水母刺丝囊的细胞毒性是否与 DNA 损伤有关，我们通过彗星和染色体畸变试验寻找 DNA 片段化。为了明确细胞死亡途径，我们研究了半胱天冬酶-3 的激活。我们的结果表明，刺丝囊以浓度依赖的方式降低细胞活力并诱导 DNA 片段化，在 150000 个刺丝囊/mL 时达到最大效应。高比例的染色体畸变也强调了夜光游水母刺丝囊在 Vero 细胞中的遗传毒性特征。这种片段化与 caspase-3 激活所证实的细胞凋亡诱导相关。总之，本报告表明，夜光游水母刺丝囊能够诱导 Vero 细胞凋亡，因此可能对癌症治疗有用。
