1. Venom from the sea anemone Actinia cari was obtained by the "milking" method. Two lethal and hemolytic polypeptide toxins, caritoxins I (CTX I) and II (CTX II), were isolated with gel and ion exchange chromatography. 2. The mol. wt of the pure toxin was 19,800. The isoelectric points of CTX I and II were 9.45 and 10.0, respectively. The toxins had similar amino acid compositions lacking cysteine. 3. The intravenous CTX I and CTX II lethal dose (LD50) in mice was found to be 54 +/- 25 and 90 +/- 1 micrograms/kg, respectively. Their hemolytic activity was inhibited by sphingomyelin.
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Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg
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Centre of Advanced Study in Marine Biology, Annamalai University, Parangipettai 608502, India.
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Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xiamen 361005, China. Electronic address:
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Sea stars are an abundant group of marine invertebrates that display remarkably robust regenerative capabilities throughout all life stages. Numerous proteins and peptides have been identified in a proteome study on the coelomic fluid (biofluid) of the common sea star Asterias rubens, which appear to be involved with the wound-healing response in the organism. However, the three-dimensional structure and function of several of these injury-responsive peptides, including the peptide KASH2, are yet to be investigated.
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