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*

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

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

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

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

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

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*