‘Cocktail Of Toxins’ Found In This Venomous Organism Might Be Useful For Therapeutics: New Study

New Delhi: Sea anemones are soft-bodied, sedentary marine animals resembling flowers, and are found from the tidal zone of all oceans to depths of more than 10,000 meters. In warmer seas, they are largest, most numerous, and most colorful.

Lauren Ashwood, a researcher at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Australia, has extensively studied the venom makeup of sea anemones. She has particularly studied a reef-based sea anemone called Telmatactis stephensoni. The study, conducted by Ashwood and other researchers at QUT, was recently published in the journal, Molecular Ecology.

The study, titled “Venoms for all occasions: the functional toxin profiles of different anatomical regions in sea anemones are related to their ecological functions”, found that the sea anemone’s venom could lead to life-saving drugs.

Telmatactis stephensoni can grow from eight to 10 centimetres. Ashwood found that the species produced different venoms for biological functions such as defense, predation, and digestion. The toxins are located at sites that corresponded to their function, the study said.

The Sea Anemone’s Venom Is A’Complex Cocktail Of Toxins’

Quoting Ashwood, a statement issued by QUT said that T. stephensoni venom is a complex cocktail of toxins that is found in stinging cells throughout the sea anemone’s structure, unlike snakes, which deliver their venom via fangs.

She further said that analysis of the sea anemone’s three major functional regions found the locations of toxin production to be consistent with their ecological role of catching prey, defense and digestion.

The tentacles, epidermis, and gastrodermis are the three major functional regions. Epidermis is the outermost of the three layers that encapsulate the skin of an animal, and gastrodermis lines the inside of the animal.

Sea anemones belong to the phylum Cnidaria, which is the oldest extant venomous group and is defined by the presence of nematocysts. These are specialised organelles responsible for venom production and delivery.

In the study, the researchers explored the relationship between patterns of toxin expression and the ecological roles of certain anatomical structures in T. stephensoni.

How The Venom Could Be Used For Therapeutics

Ashwood said that studying the toxins in the context of what they do gives an idea of ​​how they might be useful for therapeutics.

She said that animal venoms had been used to treat humans throughout history, with snake venom administered medicinally as early as the seventh century BC.

Quoting Ashwood, the statement said that peptide toxins from venomous animals are being developed into therapeutics for conditions, including cardiovascular disorders, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, wound healing, HIV, cancer, and chronic pain.

The toxin was found in the gastrodermis of the sea anemone, she said. This implies that the toxin could be involved in digestion, and could be a new type of co-lipase, which are enzymes that break down fat.

Ashwood explained that the toxin could also be similar to a toxin in the venom of black mamba snakes that stimulates intestinal muscle contractions.

Professor Peter Prentis, who co-authored the study, said that scientists were interested in pain-causing venoms because they could potentially be developed to provide pain relief.

Prentis further said that by isolating the neurotoxin and finding the nerve cell receptor the neurotoxin activates, researchers could potentially develop a blocker to stop activation and treat conditions such as chronic back pain.

He said that this means the toxins in the acontia in the sea anemone could be a source of an’antidote’ to some types of chronic pain. Actonia is a long, stinging thread used to ward off would-be predators that cause intense pain to marine animals as well as humans.

There has been a shift towards toxin-driven discovery, thanks to new analytical techniques, according to Professor Prentis.

How Is The Discovery Important?

This toxin-driven discovery is away from the earlier method where crude venom was first tested against a target for desired activity.

Quoting Prentis, the statement said that the new strategy allows for the discovery of peptides that might have remained undiscovered. For instance, peptides which may not be highly abundant in the venom or which possess unanticipated mechanisms of action could be discovered with the help of the new strategy.

Professor Prentis said that toxin-driven discovery to find therapeutic candidates can be like finding a needle in a haystack.

The venom profile of different anatomical regions in sea anemones varies according to its ecological functions, the authors concluded in the study.