Cnidocyte

Inside the jellyfish's sting: exploring the micro-architecture of a cellular weapon

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Tuesday, June 21, 2022
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KANSAS CITY, Mo., June 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Summertime beachgoers are all too familiar with the painful reality of a jellyfish sting. But how do the stinging cells of jellyfish and their coral and sea anemone cousins actually work? New research from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research unveils a precise operational model for the stinging organelle of the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis. The study, published online in Nature Communications on June 17, 2022, was led by Ahmet Karabulut, a predoctoral researcher in the lab of Matt Gibson, PhD. Their work involved the application of cutting-edge microscopic imaging technologies along with the development of a biophysical model to enable a comprehensive understanding of a mechanism that has remained elusive for over a century. Insights from the work could lead to beneficial applications in medicine, including the development of microscopic therapeutic delivery devices for humans.

Key Points: 
  • But how do the stinging cells of jellyfish and their coral and sea anemone cousins actually work?
  • Insights from the work could lead to beneficial applications in medicine, including the development of microscopic therapeutic delivery devices for humans.
  • The first phase is the initial, projectile-like discharge and target penetration of a densely coiled thread from the nematocyst capsule.
  • I realized nematocysts partially discharged their threads while the reagent I used simultaneously and instantaneously fixed the samples," said Karabulut.