A Novel Phospholipase A2 Isolated from Palythoa caribaeorum Possesses Neurotoxic Activity

A Novel Phospholipase A2 Isolated from Palythoa caribaeorum Possesses Neurotoxic Activity

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Zoanthids of the genus Palythoa are distributed worldwide in shallow waters around coral reefs.Like all cnidarians, they possess nematocysts that here contain a large diversity of toxins that paralyze their prey.This work was aimed at isolating and functionally characterizing a cnidarian neurotoxic phospholipase named A2-PLTX-Pcb1a for the first time.

This phospholipase was isolated from the venomous extract of the zoanthid Palythoa caribaeorum.This enzyme, which is Ca2+-dependent, is a 149 amino acid residue protein.The analysis of the A2-PLTX-Pcb1a sequence showed neurotoxic domain similitude with other neurotoxic sPLA2´s, but a different catalytic histidine domain.

This navy drapery fabric is remarkable, since A2-PLTX-Pcb1a displays properties like those of other known PLA2 enzymes.