The cytotoxic and hemolytic potential of karmitoxin from Karlodinium armiger and how it interacts with sterols.

Karmitoxin, produced by Karlodinium armiger, is structurally related to karlotoxin and amphidinols, two potent ichthyotoxic hemolysins with high affinity for sterols. Given these structural similarities, karmitoxin is believed to exhibit comparable toxic effects. Cytotoxicity was assessed in the fish gill cell line RTgill-W1 and the human epithelial colon cell line HCEC-1CT.

How relevant are sterols in the mode of action of prymnesins?

Prymnesins, produced by the haptophyte Prymnesium parvum, are considered responsible for fish kills when this species blooms. Although their toxic mechanism is not fully understood, membrane disruptive properties have been ascribed to A-type prymnesins. Currently it is suggested that pore-formation is the underlying cause of cell disruption.

Cytotoxicity of Prymnesium parvum extracts and prymnesin analogs on epithelial fish gill cells RTgill-W1 and the human colon cell line HCEC-1CT.

Harmful algal blooms kill fish populations worldwide, as exemplified by the haptophyte microalga Prymnesium parvum. The suspected causative agents are prymnesins, categorized as A-, B-, and C-types based on backbone carbon atoms. Impacts of P.

Human-Relevant Sensitivity of iPSC-Derived Human Motor Neurons to BoNT/A1 and B1.

The application of botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) for medical treatments necessitates a potency quantification of these lethal bacterial toxins, resulting in the use of a large number of test animals. Available alternative methods are limited in their relevance, as they are based on rodent cells or neuroblastoma cell lines or applicable for single toxin serotypes only. Here, human motor neurons (MNs), which are the physiological target of BoNTs, were generated from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and compared to the neuroblastoma cell line SiMa, which is often used in cell-based assays for BoNT potency determination.