Jellyfish venom contains various toxins and can cause
itching,
edema, muscle
aches,
shortness of breath, blood pressure depression,
shock or even death after being stung. Hemolytic
protein is one of the most hazardous components in the
venom. The present study investigated the hemolytic activity of the nematocyst
venom from jellyfish Stomolophus meleagris.
Anion exchange chromatography,
DEAE Sepharose Fast Flow, and gel filtration chromatography, Superdex200 had been employed to isolate hemolytic
proteins from the nematocyst
venom of jellyfish S. meleagris.
Hemolysis of chicken red blood cells was used to quantify hemolytic potency of crude nematocyst
venom and chromatography fractions during the purification process. Native-PAGE profile displayed one
protein band in the purified hemolytic
protein (SmTX); however, two
protein bands with apparent molecular weights of ≈ 45 kDa and 52 kDa were observed in the reducing SDS-PAGE analysis. Approximately 70 μg/mL of SmTX caused 50%
hemolysis (HU50) of the erythrocyte
suspension. The hemolytic activity of SmTX was shown to be temperature and pH dependent, with the optimum temperature and pH being 37°C and pH 5.0. The present study is the first report of isolation and partial characterization of hemolytic
proteins from the nematocyst
venom of the jellyfish S. meleagris. The mechanism of the hemolytic activity of SmTX is not clear and deserves further investigation.