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Peptide toxins found in sea anemones venom have diverse properties that make them important research subjects in the fields of pharmacology, neuroscience and biotechnology. This study used high-throughput sequencing technology to systematically analyze the venom components of the tentacles, column, and mesenterial filaments of sea anemone Heteractis crispa, revealing the diversity and complexity of sea anemone toxins in different tissues. A total of 1049 transcripts were identified and categorized into 60 families, of which 91.0% were proteins and 9.0% were peptides. Of those 1049 transcripts, 416, 291, and 307 putative proteins and peptide precursors were identified from tentacles, column, and mesenterial filaments respectively, while 428 were identified when the datasets were combined. Of these putative toxin sequences, 42 were detected in all three tissues, including 33 proteins and 9 peptides, with the majority of peptides being ShKT domain, β-defensin, and Kunitz-type. In addition, this study applied bioinformatics approaches to predict the family classification, 3D structures, and functional annotation of these representative peptides, as well as the evolutionary relationships between peptides, laying the foundation for the next step of peptide pharmacological activity research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Abnormality of immune regulation exists in multiple myeloma (MM). Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), a key regulator for immunomodulatory function, have decreased osteogenic potential in MM patients. Here we investigated the immunomodulatory function of MSCs from MM patients (MM-MSCs) and its relationship with decreased osteogenic potential. Methods: Real-time PCR was performed to detect the cytokines expressed in MM-MSCs (n = 22) and MSCs from normal donors (ND-MSCs, n = 11). Lymphocyte proliferative assay was used to detect the effect of MSCs on T cell proliferation. The effect of MSCs on T-cell cycle and T-cell activation markers expression were analyzed by flow cytometry. Flow cytometry and Western blot were used to detect apoptosis of T cells. Influence of T cells on osteogenic potential of MSCs was detected. Results: MM-MSCs exhibited increased expression of TGF-β1, IL-6, IL-3, TNF-α and RANKL and decreased expression of TGF-β2, TGF-β3 and FasL. The inhibitory effect of MM-MSCs on T.cell proliferative ability was attenuated. ND-MSCs silence more T cells in G0/G1 phase than MM-MSCs. The apoptosis-promoting effect of MM-MSCs on T cells seemed to be dampened. Expression of T-cell activation markers was significantly inhibited by ND-MSCs. T cells from normal donors possessed the ability to promote osteoblastic differentiation of ND-MSCs, but this ability of T cells both directly from MM patients and co-cultured with MM-MSCs was impaired. Conclusions: MSCs from MM patients showed impaired immunoinhibitory capability on T cells, which in turn lose the ability to stimulate osteogenesis of MSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]