Cyanea capillata tentacle-only extract as a potential alternative of nematocyst venom: Its cardiovascular toxicity and tolerance to isolation and purification procedures

As the proteins with cardiovascular toxicity in jellyfish nematocyst venom and tentacle-only extract (TOE) are probably encoded by the same gene, TOE provides a potential alternative of nematocyst venom with much richer source for acquisition of such proteins. In this study, Cyanea capillata nematocyst venom and TOE (5 mg/kg) both exhibited cardiovascular toxicity in rats, and TOE caused blood pressure reduction in slightly greater amplitude than nematocyst venom 3 min after intravenous administration. SDS-PAGE suggested high likeliness that they both contained the same bioactive protein. The activity of TOE was dose-dependent within 1.25-5 mg/kg, but not at higher concentrations. The cardiovascular activity of TOE sustained a major loss after exposure to 60 °C, and was totally abolished after exposure to 80 °C. Within the pH range of 7-11, the activity of TOE was well preserved, and rapidly attenuated in pH below 5. At 4 °C, TOE lost cardiovascular toxicity after preservation for 7 days, which occurred only after an 8-h preservation at 20 °C. Repeated freeze-thawing and freeze-drying did not significantly affect the toxicity of TOE. Buffer solutions obviously affected the toxicity of TOE, and 0.02 mol/L HAc (pH 6.0) was optimal. These results provide experimental data for optimizing the conditions for isolating the proteins with cardiovascular toxicity from jellyfish TOE, which serves as a promising alternative source of nematocyst venom.