Purification of a 19-kDa pore-forming cytolysin from the sea anemone Heteractis magnifica

Karthikayalu S (1, 2), Rama V (2), Venkatesan R (3)

(1) AxioGen Biotech Private Limited, Pondicherry, India; (2) Department of Industrial Biotechnology, Dr. M.G.R. University, Maduravoyal, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India; (3) National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.

ABSTRACT: Pore-forming cytolysins of 19 kDa from sea anemones present a remarkable cytolytic property. In the present work, we purified a 19 kDa cytolysin obtained from the sea anemone Heteractis magnifica. The purification steps involved ammonium sulfate precipitation and subsequently desalting by dialysis against 10 mM sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.4), followed by anion exchange chromatography in DEAE-Sepharose column and gel filtration chromatography using Sephadex G-50 matrix. The active fractions from the gel filtration chromatography were pooled and rechromatographed in the same column. The final active fraction showed a prominent protein band of molecular mass of 19 kDa when analyzed by SDS-PAGE.

KEY WORDS: Heteractis magnifica, cytolysin, hemolysin, pore-forming toxin.

CORRESPONDENCE TO

KARTHIKAYALU SUBBRAYALU, Department of Industrial Biotechnology, Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute, Dr. M.G.R. University, Maduraoyal, Chennai 600095, India. Phone: +91 44 23782176. Fax: +91 44 23783165. Email: karthikayalu@gmail.com