Pharmacological actions of chemically-modified phospholipase A2 from the venom of Trimeresurus flavoviridis on the smooth muscle of the rat stomach fundus.
The pharmacological activities of Trimeresurus flavoviridis phospholipase A2 (PLA2) and their chemically-modified PLA2 were characterized by measuring the contraction of rat stomach fundus strips. The native PLA2 produced a contraction of rat fundus strips. The alpha-amino-modified enzyme induced an almost identical contraction of the fundus with that of the native enzyme, whereas His-modified and Lys-modified enzymes induced a markedly decreased contraction as compared with the native enzyme. These results demonstrate that lysine and histidine residues but not the alpha-amino group in the PLA2 molecule are essential for contractile activity of the stomach fundus.