Sea Anemone Toxins
A special issue of Marine Drugs (ISSN 1660-3397).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2012) | Viewed by 65455
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The sea anemones belong to the phylum Cnidaria. The distinguishing feature of cnidarians is nematocysts, specialized venomous organs that the animals use mainly for capturing prey and protecting themselves from predators. This means all the cnidarians have venom. So far, a number of polypeptide toxins have been isolated and characterized from the sea anemones. Among these studies, ion-channel toxins and pore forming toxins have been characterized. Some ion channel toxins are revealed to be useful tools for biomedical and physiological science. The recent reports showed that sea anemones, including their toxins, are still attractive sources for novel bioactive compounds. This special issue will focus on biological activity, mode of action, ecological significance, isolation and characterization of bioactive compounds including toxins from the sea anemones.
Prof. Dr. Hiroshi Nagai
Guest Editor
Keywords
- Cnidaria
- sea anemone
- biological activity
- venom
- toxin
- bioactive compounds
- polypeptide