The stonefish is one of the world’s ugliest and deadliest fish. You’ll know if you step on one; the fish protects itself using 13 razor sharp venom filled spines capable of slicing through reef shoes. The resulting pain is crippling, can last for days and may result in amputation of a limb or death.
Structural Insights of the Stonefish toxin may help combat Transplant Rejection, ie the unexpected insight into a crucial human immune response that is responsible for the failure of up to 30% of bone marrow transplant therapies for treating leukaemia. The knowledge has been used to develop immunosuppressants to improve the success rate of transplant therapies.
The work reveals that the lethal component, a protein, Stonustoxin, is an ancient relative of the human immune protein perforin...
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