Intro Talk: Investigating the Therapeutic Potential of Jellyfish Venom Olivia Blondheim Dr. Charles Lunn

Introduction to Jellies Have existed at least 600 million years Body composition = 95% water No circulatory or central nervous system Have a primitive “nerve net” Nematocysts on each tentacle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= 7WJCnC5ebf4

Box Jellies (Chironex fleckeri) Contain toxins that attack the heart, nervous system, and skin cells Victims go into shock and drown or die of heart failure before reaching shore Each tentacle has about 5,000 nematocysts Have eyes grouped in clusters of six on the four sides of their bell Each pair of eyes has a sophisticated lens, retina, iris and cornea

Venom Components Chironex fleckeri: Toxin-1 (CfTX-1) and Toxin-2 (CfTX-2). Structural proteins, heat shock proteins, oxidoreductive proteins and proteases. Olindias sambaquiensis: 29 potential toxins similar to peptide toxins from a range of diverse animals including other Cnidaria, wasps, bees, sea cones, etc. These toxins include toxic peptidases, phospholipids, and neurotoxins Contain k-4-bungarotoxin,an inhibitor of the neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor derived from snake venom Butantoxin-like peptides were present, which block different potassium channels Stomolophus meleagris: 218 toxic-like proteins and a range of proteases Homologs of ShK proteins and a spider toxin from the Brazilian Amazonian armed spider

Potential Uses for Jellyfish Venom Treatment of Pain Arthritis Back pain Fatigue Applications for cardiovascular medicine Study of the evolution of peptide toxins and the discovery of bioactive peptides for drug design 29 potential toxins in O. sambaquiensis x 10,000 species of Cnidaria = 29,000 different Cnidarian toxins

Research Interest How may the venom from the Box Jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri) be used for therapeutic purposes?