Piontek, Melissa, Seymour, Jamie E., Wong, Yide, Gilstrom, Tyler, Potriquet, Jeremy, Jennings, Ernest, Nimmo, Alan, and Miles, John J. (2020) The pathology of Chironex fleckeri venom and known biological mechanisms. Toxicon, 6. 100026.

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Abstract

The large box jellyfish Chironex fleckeri is found in northern Australian waters. A sting from this cubozoan species can kill within minutes. From clinical and animal studies, symptoms comprise severe pain, welts, scarring, hypotension, vasospasms, cardiac irregularities and cardiac arrest. At present, there is no cure and opioids are used to manage pain. Antivenom is available but controversy exists over its effectiveness. Experimental and combination therapies performed in vitro and in vivo have shown varied efficacy. These inconsistent results are likely a consequence of the different methods used to extract venom. Recent omics analysis has shed light on the systems of C. fleckeri venom action, including new toxin classes that use pore formation, cell membrane collapse and ion channel modulation. This review covers what is known on C. fleckeri pathomechanisms and highlights current gaps in knowledge. A more complete understanding of the mechanisms of C. fleckeri venom-induced pathology may lead to novel treatments and possibly, the discovery of novel cell pathways, novel drug scaffolds and novel drug targets for human disease.

Item ID:	62749
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1879-3150
Keywords:	Chironex fleckeriAntivenomMolecular pathwaysVenom processingVenom-based omics
Copyright Information:	(C) 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open access article under the CC BY license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Funders:	National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC), Lions Foundation of Australia
Projects and Grants:	NHMRC APP1108064, NHMRC Career Fellowship Level 2 APP1131732
Date Deposited:	23 Jul 2020 03:22
FoR Codes:	32 BIOMEDICAL AND CLINICAL SCIENCES > 3204 Immunology > 320499 Immunology not elsewhere classified @ 100%
SEO Codes:	92 HEALTH > 9201 Clinical Health (Organs, Diseases and Abnormal Conditions) > 920199 Clinical Health (Organs, Diseases and Abnormal Conditions) not elsewhere classified @ 100%
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