Molecular toxinology of Australian box jellyfish venoms

箱形水母是澳大利亚北部沿海社区和旅游区疾病和死亡的持续原因。除了造成严重的医疗问题外，箱形水母“季节”导致的海滩关闭导致旅游收入的巨大损失，并威胁到澳大利亚作为安全目的地的声誉。水母的毒液含有对人类有潜在致命影响的毒素。我们将首次使用从特殊的刺细胞（即刺丝囊）中提取的纯毒液，从四种箱形水母中分离和表征主要毒素。他们的作用机制将被确定和各种治疗的效果，如抗蛇毒血清将被调查。这也将导致发现具有潜在新靶点和作用方式的毒素，并增加我们对蜇伤的拟议治疗和预防的理解。

Box jellyfish are an ongoing cause of illness and death for coastal communities and tourist regions in northern Australia. As well as creating a significant medical problem, the resulting closure of beaches during boxjellyfish 'season' results in an enormous loss of tourism income and threatens Australia's reputation as a safe destination. The jellyfish venoms contain toxins with potentially lethal effects on humans. For the first time, using pure venoms derived from the specialised stinging cells (i.e. nematocytsts), we will isolate and characterize the major toxins from four species of box jellyfish. Their mechanism of action will be determined and the effect of various treatments such as antivenom will be investigated. This will also lead to the discovery of toxins with potentially novel targets and modes of action and increase our understanding of proposed treatments and prevention of stings.