Comparative proteomics and subtyping of venom phospholipases A2 and disintegrins of Protobothrops pit vipers

✍ Scribed by Inn-Ho Tsai; Yi-Hsuan Chen; Ying-Ming Wang

• Book ID: 104003341
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2004
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 181 KB
• Volume: 1702
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1570-9639
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bbapap.2004.08.006

✦ Synopsis

To explore the venom diversity and systematics of pit vipers under the genus Protobothrops, the venom phospholipases A 2 (PLA 2 s) of P. mangshanensis, P. elegans and P. tokarensis were purified and characterized for the first time. The results were compared with the corresponding venom data of other co-generic species including P. mucrosquamatus, P. flavoviridis and P. jerdonii. Based on sequence features at the N-terminal regions, we identified five PLA 2 subtypes, i.e., the Asp49-PLA 2 s with N6, E6 or R6 substitution and the Lys49-PLA 2 . However, not all subtypes were expressed in each of the species. Venom N6-PLA 2 s from P. mangshanensis and P. tokarensis venom were weakly neurotoxic toward chick biventer cervicis tissue preparations. The venoms of P. tokarensis and P. flavoviridis contained identical PLA 2 isoforms. In most Protobothrop disintegrins, sequences flanking the RGD-motif are conserved. Phylogenetic analyses based on amino acid sequences of both families of the acidic PLA 2 s and the disintegrins clarify that these species could belong to a monophyletic group.