CIMAR/CIIMAR, Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Universidade do Porto, Rua dos Bragas 177, 4050-123 Porto, Portugal.
Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal.
Mar Drugs. 2012 Aug;10(8):1812-1851. doi: 10.3390/md10081812. Epub 2012 Aug 22.
The Cnidaria phylum includes organisms that are among the most venomous animals. The Anthozoa class includes sea anemones, hard corals, soft corals and sea pens. The composition of cnidarian venoms is not known in detail, but they appear to contain a variety of compounds. Currently around 250 of those compounds have been identified (peptides, proteins, enzymes and proteinase inhibitors) and non-proteinaceous substances (purines, quaternary ammonium compounds, biogenic amines and betaines), but very few genes encoding toxins were described and only a few related protein three-dimensional structures are available. Toxins are used for prey acquisition, but also to deter potential predators (with neurotoxicity and cardiotoxicity effects) and even to fight territorial disputes. Cnidaria toxins have been identified on the nematocysts located on the tentacles, acrorhagi and acontia, and in the mucous coat that covers the animal body. Sea anemone toxins comprise mainly proteins and peptides that are cytolytic or neurotoxic with its potency varying with the structure and site of action and are efficient in targeting different animals, such as insects, crustaceans and vertebrates. Sea anemones toxins include voltage-gated Na⁺ and K⁺ channels toxins, acid-sensing ion channel toxins, Cytolysins, toxins with Kunitz-type protease inhibitors activity and toxins with Phospholipase A2 activity. In this review we assessed the phylogentic relationships of sea anemone toxins, characterized such toxins, the genes encoding them and the toxins three-dimensional structures, further providing a state-of-the-art description of the procedures involved in the isolation and purification of bioactive toxins.
刺胞动物门包括一些最具毒性的动物。珊瑚纲包括海葵、硬珊瑚、软珊瑚和海笔。刺胞动物毒液的成分尚未详细了解，但它们似乎包含多种化合物。目前已鉴定出约 250 种化合物（肽、蛋白质、酶和蛋白酶抑制剂）和非蛋白质物质（嘌呤、季铵化合物、生物胺和甜菜碱），但描述的编码毒素的基因很少，只有少数相关蛋白质三维结构可用。毒素用于获取猎物，但也用于威慑潜在的捕食者（具有神经毒性和心脏毒性作用），甚至用于争夺领地。刺胞动物毒素已在位于触须、刺丝囊和刺细胞上的刺丝囊、刺丝和粘液覆盖物中被识别。海葵毒素主要由蛋白质和肽组成，具有细胞毒性或神经毒性，其效力随结构和作用部位而变化，对不同的动物（如昆虫、甲壳类动物和脊椎动物）具有高效靶向性。海葵毒素包括电压门控 Na⁺ 和 K⁺ 通道毒素、酸感应离子通道毒素、细胞溶解素、具有 Kunitz 型蛋白酶抑制剂活性的毒素和具有磷酸脂酶 A2 活性的毒素。在这篇综述中，我们评估了海葵毒素的系统发育关系，对这些毒素进行了特征描述，鉴定了编码它们的基因和毒素的三维结构，并进一步提供了分离和纯化生物活性毒素所涉及的程序的最新描述。
