Search

A bacterium strain, designated as CMF-2, was isolated from the jellyfish Cyanea capillata and its culture supernatant exhibited a significant antimicrobial activity. The strain CMF-2 was identified as Pseudomonas sp. based on the morphological, biochemical and physiological characteristics as well as 16S rRNA sequence analysis. In this study, an antimicrobial protein, named as CAP-1, was isolated from the culture of CMF-2 through ammonium sulfate precipitation and gel filtration chromatography. According to the result of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), a major band indicated that the antimicrobial protein had a molecular mass of about 15 kDa, and it was identified as a hypothetical protein by MALDI-TOF-MS analysis and Mascot searching. CAP-1 displayed a broad antimicrobial spectrum against the indicator bacteria and fungus, including Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Candida albicans, especially some marine-derived microorganisms such as Vibrio vulnificus, Vibrio alginolyticus, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Vibrio cholera, and Vibrio anguillarum, but showed little impact on tumor cells and normal human cells. The protein CAP-1 remained a stable antimicrobial activity in a wide range of temperature (20-80°C) and pH (2-10) conditions. These results suggested that CAP-1 might have a specific antimicrobial function not due to cytotoxicity.

Our previous studies demonstrated that tentacle extract (TE) from the jellyfish, Cyanea capillata, could cause a dose-dependent increase of systolic blood pressure, which seemed to be the result of direct constriction of vascular smooth muscle (VSM). The aim of this study is to investigate whether TE could induce vasoconstriction in vitro and to explore its potential mechanism. Using isolated aorta rings, a direct contractile response of TE was verified, which showed that TE could induce concentration-dependent contractile responses in both endothelium-intact and -denuded aortas. Interestingly, the amplitude of contraction in the endothelium-denuded aorta was much stronger than that in the endothelium-intact one, implying that TE might also bring a weak functional relaxation in addition to vasoconstriction. Further drug intervention experiments indicated that the functional vasodilation might be mediated by nitric oxide, and that TE-induced vasoconstriction could be attributed to calcium influx via voltage-operated calcium channels (VOCCs) from the extracellular space, as well as sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca²⁺ release via the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP₃R), leading to an increase in [Ca²⁺](c), instead of activation of the PLC/DAG/PKC pathway or the sympathetic nerve system.

One pteridophyte, Pteris vittata L., was found to be a suitable plant used in phytoremediation of the soils contaminated with excess arsenic. In this paper, literature on this fern’s potential in remediating soils contaminated with arsenic, its possible detoxification strategies, and the measures facilitating its practical application in phytoremediation were reviewed. Some of the unresolved questions about this fern in both detoxification and phytoextraction of arsenic (As) were also listed. The aim of this paper was to introduce this magic fern to more researchers focusing on a wider field of discipline and make it more useful in both macroscopic and microcosmic science world.

In this paper, the water quality of the Xixi Wetland was evaluated and the characteristics of water pollution were described according to the survey data. Based on the status of water quality and its functional requirements as an urban wetland, biological-ecological countermeasures were suggested. The experimental use of ecological technologies, such as artificial wetlands, ecological aquiculture and artificial floating island, were done in several fish ponds in the Xixi Wetland. Water monitoring results show that the quality of the treated water has improved significantly and the measures to purify the eutrophic water in the wetland have been effective.

Previously, we established delayed jellyfish envenomation syndrome (DJES) models and proposed that the hemorrhagic toxins in jellyfish tentacle extracts (TE) play a significant role in the liver and kidney injuries of the experimental model. Further, we also demonstrated that metalloproteinases are the central toxic components of the jellyfish Cyanea capillata (C. capillata), which may be responsible for the hemorrhagic effects. Thus, metalloproteinase inhibitors appear to be a promising therapeutic alternative for the treatment of hemorrhagic injuries in DJES. In this study, we examined the metalloproteinase activity of TE from the jellyfish C. capillata using zymography analyses. Our results confirmed that TE possessed a metalloproteinase activity, which was also sensitive to heat. Then, we tested the effect of metalloproteinase inhibitor batimastat (BB-94) on TE-induced hemorrhagic injuries in DJES models. Firstly, using SR-based X-ray microangiography, we found that BB-94 significantly improved TE-induced hepatic and renal microvasculature alterations in DJES mouse model. Secondly, under synchrotron radiation micro-computed tomography (SR-μCT), we also confirmed that BB-94 reduced TE-induced hepatic and renal microvasculature changes in DJES rat model. In addition, being consistent with the imaging results, histopathological and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated UTP end labeling (TUNEL)-like staining observations also clearly corroborated this hypothesis, as BB-94 was highly effective in neutralizing TE-induced extensive hemorrhage and necrosis in DJES rat model. Although it may require further clinical studies in the near future, the current study opens up the possibilities for the use of the metalloproteinase inhibitor, BB-94, in the treatment of multiple organ hemorrhagic injuries in DJES.

Our previous studies have shown that tentacle extract (TE) from the jellyfish Cyanea capillata could induce a delayed jellyfish envenomation syndrome with severe multiple organ dysfunctions, among which renal injury with tubular necrosis seemed to be most serious. So, in this study, we aimed to explore the toxic effect of TE on rat renal tubular epithelial NRK-52E cells. Based on the previous findings that TE could cause oxidative damage in erythrocytes, the effects of TE on cell oxidative stress conditions, including ROS production and lipid peroxidation, and mitochondrial dysfunction associated with cell death were investigated in NRK-52E cells. The results showed that TE caused cell morphological change and decreased cell viability through induction of apoptosis and necrosis in NRK-52E cells. Meanwhile, ROS overproduction and mitochondrial membrane potential decrease were found before the cell death occurred. It was concluded that TE could induce cytotoxicity, especially apoptosis and necrosis, in NRK-52E cells, and mitochondrial dysfunction and ROS overproduction might play important roles in the process of cell injury and death.

The delayed jellyfish envenomation syndrome (DJES) with serious multiple organ dysfunction or systemic damages, generally developed 2 h after jellyfish stings, deserves special attention for it is very meaningful to the clinical interventions. To set up a DJES model as well as to obtain more details about its process, an integrative approach, including clinical chemistry, pathology and immunohistochemistry, was conducted to simultaneously monitor the effects of tentacle extract (TE) from the jellyfish Cyanea capillata on the vital target organs (heart, lung, liver and kidney). Our results showed that the TE from C. capillata could induce diverse toxic effects on these organs, among which the liver and kidney injuries seemed to be more serious than cardiopulmonary injuries and might be the leading causes of death in rats with DJES. In summary, we have established a DJES model with multiple organ dysfunction, which could facilitate the research on its underlying mechanism as well as the development of specific prevention or therapy strategies against jellyfish envenomation. The application of this model suggested that the possible mechanism of DJES might be attributed to the synergy of cytotoxicity, vasoconstriction effect and other specific target organ toxicities of jellyfish venom.

In our survey in the copper (Cu) mining area of China, a sun fern (Pteridium revolutum) was found to accumulate 30-567 mg Cu kg(-1) DW (33 samples) in its fronds with a large frond biomass. Cu translocation factors in the plants varied from 0.09 to 3.88. In a greenhouse pot experiment, the effect of an elevated CO2 concentration (700 microL L(-1)) on Cu accumulation in plants was studied using three fern species (P. revolutum, Pteridium aquilinum, and Pteris vittata) grown in the Cu-contaminated soil. P. revolutum showed a higher Cu tolerance but its Cu translocation factor was lower than 1. At the elevated CO2 concentration, frond biomass of all species was significantly increased, as was the total Cu content in the fronds of P. revolutum and P. aquilinum. Our study suggests that P. revolutum could serve as a good candidate for phytoextraction of Cu-contaminated soils and that doubling the ambient CO2 concentration will facilitate its use in phytoextraction.

Amaranthus tricolor L. and Amaranthus cruentus L. were grown in pots containing 7.5 kg soils artificially contaminated with three levels of 134Cs activity: 5.55 x 10(5) Bq pot-1, 1.11 x 10(6) Bq pot(-)1, and 1.665 x 10(6) Bq pot(-1), respectively. Forty-nine days after sowing and growth, plants were harvested. The plants growing in soils with increasing 134Cs concentrations showed increasing concentration of this radionuclide in shoots. There were significant differences in uptake of 134Cs applied to soils between and within the plant species, depending on the initial 134Cs concentrations. The plant species showed different responses to the addition of (NH4)2SO4 to soils. Biomass production of both species was reduced in pots treated with (NH4)2SO4. (NH4)2SO4 application decreased the uptake of 134Cs by A. tricolor but increased the accumulation of 134Cs by A. cruentus, showing that chemicals with the highest efficiency to enhance the desorption of 134Cs might play an unexpected role in transferring the radionuclide to shoots.