The Cyanotoxins

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This chapter discusses cytoxins. The toxins of cyanobacteria are divided into two main categories based on the type of bioassay used to screen for their activity. These are the cytotoxins—named because the bioassay methods used to detect them are often cultured in mammalian cell lines, especially tumour cell lines—and the biotoxins—named because they are assayed by using small animals. Marine and freshwater cyanobacteria continue to provide an array of cytotoxic compounds with potential pharmacological use or importance to the organisms' ecology. Cyanobacteria toxins still constitute the major source of natural product toxins found in the surface supplies of freshwater. Acute hepatotoxicosis that involves the hepatotoxins is still the most commonly encountered toxicosis involving cyanobacteria. These toxins called “microcystins” and “nodularins” are produced by strains and species within the genera Microcystis, Anabaena, Hapalosiphon, Nodularia, Nostoc, and Oscillatoria. The three-dimensional structure of microcystins has been accomplished within the past few years by using two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and distance geometry calculations and NMR solution spectroscopy and computer modeling. This study has provided valuable information on the functional groups responsible for binding to the protein phosphatase active site through which microcystins and nodularins exert their toxic effect. Toxicity of the microcystins as measured by small animal bioassay—resulting in the inhibition of protein phosphatases 1 and 2A—or cell cytotoxicity assays are remarkably similar. The mechanism of action for microcystinshodularins at the cellular and molecular level continues to show that they have a preferred affinity for the liver followed by specific binding to serinethreonine protein phosphatases 1 and 2A.

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