1.A Case of Sea Anemone Dermatitis.
Chang Sik KIM ; Yong Tae PARK ; Tae Ho PARK ; Jae Hak YOO ; Kea Jeung KIM
Korean Journal of Dermatology 2005;43(6):863-865
Sea anemone dermatitis, caused by the toxin of sea anemones (member of phylum Cnidaria), is characterized by erythematous papules, wheals, or vesicles, accompanied by pain and itching. A 25-year old woman presented with multiple erythematous papules on her right forearm, after contact with a sea anemone while scuba diving. She took both courses of an acute toxic reaction and a delayed allergic reaction.
Adult
;
Cnidaria
;
Dermatitis*
;
Diving
;
Female
;
Forearm
;
Humans
;
Hypersensitivity
;
Pruritus
;
Sea Anemones*
2.Jellyfish stings on Langkawi Island, Malaysia
Mohd Azri Mohd Suan ; Wei Leong Tan ; Shahrul Aiman Soelar ; Hour Pin Cheng ; Munirah Osman
The Medical Journal of Malaysia 2016;71(4):161-165
Introduction: Jellyfish stings are the most frequently
reported marine animal envenomation worldwide. However,
data on jellyfish sting from Malaysia remains obscure due to
inadequate research.
Methods: We investigated the epidemiology, clinical features
and treatment of patients presenting at the emergency
department of Langkawi Hospital between January 2012 and
December 2014. Secondary data on the nature of the
incident, patient demographics, clinical presentation, and
treatment were retrieved from the patients’ medical records.
Descriptive statistics were presented for all patient
variables.
Results: A total of 759 patients presented with jellyfish
stings during the 3-year study period, with highest number
of visits in July, October, November, and December. The
mean patient age was 26.7 years (SD: 12.14), 59.4% were
men, 68.1% were foreigners or international tourists, and
40.4% were stung between 12.00 p.m. and 6:59 p.m. At least
90 patients presented with mild Irukandji or Irukandji-like
syndromes. Most of the jellyfish stings occurred at Chenang
Beach (590 reported cases), followed by Tengah Beach and
Kok Beach. Most patients were treated symptomatically, and
no deaths following a jellyfish sting was reported during the
study period.
Conclusion: There is a need for public health interventions
for both local and international tourists who visit Langkawi
Island. Preventive steps and education on initial treatment at
the incident site could elevate public awareness and
decrease the adverse effects of jellyfish stings.
Cnidaria
;
Cnidarian Venoms
3.Seabather's eruption in two triathletes at Samal Island, Davao, Philippines.
Guevara Bryan Edgar K. ; Lacuesta Maricarr Pamela M. ; Dayrit Johannes F.
Journal of the Philippine Dermatological Society 2015;24(2):67-69
Seabather's eruption (SBE) is characterized by pruritic erythematous papules on the covered areas of the body that appear within 24 hours after exposure to seawater. SBE is known to be caused by the planula of a thimble jellyfish (Linuche unguiculata) or a sea anemone (Edward siellalineata). We report cases of two adult male triathletes who developed pruritic erythematous papules on the chest and back after a swim training along the coastal waters of Samal island, Davao City. Examination of samples of the seawater revealed multiple planulae or larval forms of cnidarians. The histopathologic examination revealed moderately dense superficial and deep perivascular and periadnexal inflammatory infiltrates consisting predominantly of lymphocytes, few eosinophils and neutrophils. Treatment with a short course of systemic corticosteroids proved beneficial in both patients. A review of published literature regarding this interesting aquatic sports dermatosis was also conducted.
Human ; Male ; Adult ; Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; Eosinophils ; Lymphocytes ; Neutrophils ; Scyphozoa ; Sea Anemones ; Seawater ; Skin Diseases
4.A Case of Cellulitis Associated with Coral Injury.
So Young NA ; Hye Young LEE ; Jin Ok BAEK ; Joo Young ROH ; Jong Rok LEE
Annals of Dermatology 2008;20(4):212-215
Corals are the marine organism that belongs to the phylum Cnidaria, and are one of the common causes of superficial injury in the marine environment. In addition to acute reactions such as burning or stinging pain and erythema, coral injuries may present with complications such as foreign body reactions, bacterial infections, and/or localized eczematous reactions. A 23-year-old male presented with an erythematous edematous tender patch with centrally grouped vesicles on the left ankle; the injury had occurred during skin-scuba diving 2 days before. A biopsy of the lesion treated with hematoxylin-eosin stain showed epidermal necrosis with subepidermal blisters and neutrophilic panniculitis. Herein we report a case of cellulitis caused by the nematocyst stings of corals.
Anthozoa
;
Aquatic Organisms
;
Bacterial Infections
;
Biopsy
;
Bites and Stings
;
Blister
;
Burns
;
Cellulitis
;
Cnidaria
;
Diving
;
Erythema
;
Foreign Bodies
;
Humans
;
Male
;
Necrosis
;
Nematocyst
;
Neutrophils
;
Panniculitis
;
Young Adult
5.Jellyfish Sting.
Sang Ju LEE ; Sung Nam CHANG ; Eunsun CHOI ; Wook Hwa PARK
Korean Journal of Dermatology 1998;36(4):694-698
Stings due to jellyfish, sea anemones, and corals are the most common envenomations encountered with humans in the marine environment. The first case was a 36-year-old female who presented with multiple whiplike linear, dark reddish bullous eruptions on the right forearm after she was stung by a jellyfish in the Philippines 15 days previously. The patient was treated with oral antibiotics for 10 days, but severe pruritus persisted and new papular lesions developed on her hand. Antibiotic therapy was discontinued and oral and topical corticosteroid therapy was applied instead. The skin lesions disappeared without recurrence after about 4 weeks. The second case was a 29-year-old male who visited our department with linear, reddish patches and necrotizing blisters on both the arms, left thigh, and trunk after he was stung by a jellyfish in Thailand. We treated him with oral and topical corticosteroids for 10 days and the lesions cleared. We describe two typical cases of jellyfish sting that are rare in Korea.
Adrenal Cortex Hormones
;
Adult
;
Anthozoa
;
Anti-Bacterial Agents
;
Arm
;
Bites and Stings*
;
Blister
;
Female
;
Forearm
;
Hand
;
Humans
;
Korea
;
Male
;
Philippines
;
Pruritus
;
Recurrence
;
Sea Anemones
;
Skin
;
Thailand
;
Thigh
6.Protein-protein complexation in bioluminescence.
Maxim S TITUSHIN ; Yingang FENG ; John LEE ; Eugene S VYSOTSKI ; Zhi-Jie LIU
Protein & Cell 2011;2(12):957-972
In this review we summarize the progress made towards understanding the role of protein-protein interactions in the function of various bioluminescence systems of marine organisms, including bacteria, jellyfish and soft corals, with particular focus on methodology used to detect and characterize these interactions. In some bioluminescence systems, protein-protein interactions involve an "accessory protein" whereby a stored substrate is efficiently delivered to the bioluminescent enzyme luciferase. Other types of complexation mediate energy transfer to an "antenna protein" altering the color and quantum yield of a bioluminescence reaction. Spatial structures of the complexes reveal an important role of electrostatic forces in governing the corresponding weak interactions and define the nature of the interaction surfaces. The most reliable structural model is available for the protein-protein complex of the Ca(2+)-regulated photoprotein clytin and green-fluorescent protein (GFP) from the jellyfish Clytia gregaria, solved by means of Xray crystallography, NMR mapping and molecular docking. This provides an example of the potential strategies in studying the transient complexes involved in bioluminescence. It is emphasized that structural studies such as these can provide valuable insight into the detailed mechanism of bioluminescence.
Animals
;
Anthozoa
;
physiology
;
Aquatic Organisms
;
physiology
;
Bacteria
;
metabolism
;
Binding Sites
;
Calcium
;
metabolism
;
Crystallography, X-Ray
;
Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer
;
Green Fluorescent Proteins
;
metabolism
;
Hydrozoa
;
physiology
;
Imidazoles
;
metabolism
;
Luciferases
;
metabolism
;
Luminescent Measurements
;
instrumentation
;
methods
;
Luminescent Proteins
;
metabolism
;
Models, Molecular
;
Protein Binding
;
Pteridines
;
metabolism
;
Pyrazines
;
metabolism
;
Scyphozoa
;
physiology
;
Spectrometry, Fluorescence
7.Chemical constituents from marine fungus Penicillium thomii.
Ting JIANG ; Li TIAN ; Ai-hua GUO ; Hong-zheng FU ; Yue-hu PEI ; Wen-han LIN
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica 2002;37(4):271-274
AIMTo investigate the bioactive constituents from the mycelium of Penicillium thomii. Which isolated from Anemone collected in Qingdao beach.
METHODSThe constituents were separated by using various chromatography and the structures were identified on the basis of extensive spectral analysis.
RESULTSFive compounds, namely penicillixanthone A (I), p-methylbenzolic acid (II), 1-O-hexadecanoyl-2-O-(9-octadecenoyl)-3-O-(9, 12-octadecadienoyl) glycerol (III), 5 alpha, 8 alpha-epidioxy-24 zeta-methylcholesta-6, 22-dien-3 beta-ol (IV) and 1, 6, 8-trihydroxyl-3-methyl-9, 10-anthracenedione (V), were isolated from the mycelium of Penicillium thomii.
CONCLUSIONPenicillixanthone A is a new compound, while the others are isolated from Penicillium thomii for the first time.
Animals ; Molecular Conformation ; Molecular Structure ; Penicillium ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Sea Anemones ; microbiology ; Xanthones ; chemistry ; isolation & purification
8.The construction of cDNA expression library from the tentacles of Sagartia rosea.
Wen-Hua LIU ; Yi-Liang WANG ; Hui-Ping CHEN ; Xiao-Yu JIANG ; Hong-Bin TU ; Jian-Wen WEI ; Wen-Lie PENG ; An-Long XU
Chinese Journal of Biotechnology 2002;18(6):749-753
A cDNA expression library of the tentacles of Sagartia rosea was constructed. The cDNA was cloned into eukaryotical expression plasmid pcDNA3. SMART protocol was used for cDNA library construction and bioinformatics analysis was carried out. 71 novel EST clones were obtained from 130 sequences in the library, of which there were 21 full-length clones, including cytolysin genes, flourescent protein, ubiquinol-cytochrome C reductase gene, elongation factor, ferritin gene riboflavin kinase gene, ribosomal protein. This provides a base for further investigating their biological activity and application.
Animals
;
DNA, Complementary
;
chemistry
;
isolation & purification
;
Gene Library
;
RNA
;
isolation & purification
;
Sea Anemones
;
genetics
9.Identification of four new ceramides from Anthopleura pacifica.
Shu-yu ZHANG ; Hai-feng TANG ; Yang-hua YI ; Ling LI ; Da-zheng ZHOU ; Zheng-rong ZOU
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica 2003;38(5):350-353
AIMTo study the bioactive constituents from Anthopleura pacifica.
METHODSCompounds were separated by Pyricularia oryzae bioassay-guided fractionation method with a combination of multi-chromatography. Their chemical structures were determined on the basis of spectral analysis and chemical evidence.
RESULTSA portion showing activity against P. oryzae was obtained and from the portion four compounds were identified as N-hydroxyethyl-N-tetradecanoyl-(2S,3R)-octadecasphinga-4(E), 8(E)-dienine (a), N-hydroxyethyl-N-(9Z-hexadecenoyl)-(2S,3R)-octadecasphinga-4 (E), 8 (E)-dienine (b), N-hydroxyethyl-N-hexadecanoyl-(2S,3R)-octadecasphinga-4(E), 8 (E)-dienine (c) and N-hydroxyethyl-N-(13Z-docosenoyl-(2S,3R)-octadecasphinga-4(E), 8(E)-dienine(d).
CONCLUSIONAll the four compounds are new ceramides.
Animals ; Biological Assay ; Ceramides ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Cnidarian Venoms ; chemistry ; Mitosporic Fungi ; drug effects ; Molecular Conformation ; Molecular Structure ; Sea Anemones ; chemistry
10.Effects of calcium-binding sites in the S2-S3 loop on human and Nematostella vectensis TRPM2 channel gating processes.
Yu-Huan LUO ; Xia-Fei YU ; Cheng MA ; Fan YANG ; Wei YANG
Journal of Zhejiang University. Science. B 2019;20(12):972-982
As a crucial signaling molecule, calcium plays a critical role in many physiological and pathological processes by regulating ion channel activity. Recently, one study resolved the structure of the transient receptor potential melastatin 2 (TRPM2) channel from Nematostella vectensis (nvTRPM2). This identified a calcium-binding site in the S2-S3 loop, while its effect on channel gating remains unclear. Here, we investigated the role of this calcium-binding site in both nvTRPM2 and human TRPM2 (hTRPM2) by mutagenesis and patch-clamp recording. Unlike hTRPM2, nvTRPM2 cannot be activated by calcium alone. Moreover, the inactivation rate of nvTRPM2 was decreased as intracellular calcium concentration was increased. In addition, our results showed that the four key residues in the calcium-binding site of S2-S3 loop have similar effects on the gating processes of nvTRPM2 and hTRPM2. Among them, the mutations at negatively charged residues (glutamate and aspartate) substantially decreased the currents of nvTRPM2 and hTRPM2. This suggests that these sites are essential for calcium-dependent channel gating. For the charge-neutralizing residues (glutamine and asparagine) in the calcium-binding site, our data showed that glutamine mutating to alanine or glutamate did not affect the channel activity, but glutamine mutating to lysine caused loss of function. Asparagine mutating to aspartate still remained functional, while asparagine mutating to alanine or lysine led to little channel activity. These results suggest that the side chain of glutamine has a less contribution to channel gating than does asparagine. However, our data indicated that both glutamine mutating to alanine or glutamate and asparagine mutating to aspartate accelerated the channel inactivation rate, suggesting that the calcium-binding site in the S2-S3 loop is important for calcium-dependent channel inactivation. Taken together, our results uncovered the effect of four key residues in the S2-S3 loop of TRPM2 on the TRPM2 gating process.
Animals
;
Asparagine/physiology*
;
Binding Sites
;
Calcium/metabolism*
;
Glutamine/physiology*
;
HEK293 Cells
;
Humans
;
Ion Channel Gating/physiology*
;
Sea Anemones
;
TRPM Cation Channels/physiology*