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Accelerated evolution of Trimeresurus okinavensis venom gland phospholipase A2 isozyme-encoding genes.

Three Trimeresurus okinavensis (To; himehabu snake, Crotalinae) venom gland phospholipase A2 (PLA2) isozymeencoding genes, gPLA2-o1, gPLA2-o2 and gPLA2-o3, were isolated from its genomic DNA library. The nucleotide (nt) sequence analysis revealed that two of the three genes (gPLA2-o2 and gPLA2-o3) occasionally have been converted to inactivated genes by introduction of one base insertion or substitution. It was confirmed from Southern blot analysis that the To haploid genome contains only three venom gland PLA2 isozyme genes herein isolated. Comparison of these genes showed that nonsynonymous nt substitutions have occurred more frequently than synonymous nt substitutions in the protein-coding regions, except for the signal-peptide coding domain, implying that To venom gland PLA2 isozyme genes have evolved via accelerated evolution. Such an evolutionary feature of To venom gland PLA2 isozyme genes proves the general universality of accelerated evolution previously drawn for venom gland PLA2 isozyme genes of other crotalinae snakes. The variability in the mature protein-coding regions of three To venom gland PLA2 isozyme genes appears to have been brought about by natural selection for point mutations.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Purpureotin: a novel di-dimeric C-type lectin-like protein from Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus venom is stabilized by noncovalent interactions.

Purpureotin, a novel di-dimeric C-type lectin-like protein (CLP) from Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus, was purified and sequenced. While its native molecular mass was determined to be 63kDa, purpureotin showed a single band of 30kDa on nonreducing SDS-PAGE and two polypeptide chains (16.0 and 14.5kDa) under reducing condition. These results were subsequently confirmed by mass spectrometric analyses. Based on these results, we postulate that purpureotin is a dimer of the alpha,beta-heterodimer which is held together by noncovalent interactions. Molecular modeling studies indicate that a dimer of alpha,beta-heterodimers can be formed where the alpha chains are held together by electrostatic charges and beta chains via hydrophobic interactions. Functionally, purpureotin induced platelet aggregation without any cofactor in a dose-dependent manner. However, the platelet aggregation effect was blocked by echicetin. Therefore, purpureotin is assumed to be a GPIb-binding protein which binds to the same or a closely related GPIb site on platelets as echicetin.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Differential action of proteases from Trimeresurus malabaricus, Naja naja and Daboia russellii venoms on hemostasis.

The action of venom proteases and their role in hemostasis has been compared in the venoms of Trimeresurus malabaricus, Daboia russellii and Naja naja from the Southern region of Western Ghats, India. These venoms exhibit varying amounts of proteolytic activity and also influence hemostasis differently. Casein hydrolyzing activity of T. malabaricus venoms was 16 and 24 fold higher than those of N. naja and D. russellii venoms, respectively. With the synthetic substrate TAME, the highest activity was observed in T. malabaricus venom. N. naja venom did not hydrolyze TAME even at higher concentrations. These variations in proteolytic activity also influenced the coagulation process. T. malabaricus and D. russellii venoms are strongly procoagulant and reduce the re-calcification time from 148 to 14 and 12 s, respectively. Similarly, both T. malabaricus and D. russellii venoms reduce the prothrombin time from 12.5 to 6.0 s. On the other hand, N. naja venom is anticoagulant and prolongs re-calcification time to 600 s and prothrombin time to 42 s. In spite of varied effects on hemostasis, all the venoms hydrolyze fibrinogen. T. malabaricus venom hydrolyses both Aalpha and Bbeta subunits. While D. russellii and N. naja venoms hydrolyse only Aalpha. None of these venoms hydrolyze the gamma subunit of fibrinogen. Inhibition studies with specific protease inhibitors revealed that both N. naja and T. malabaricus venoms contain only metalloproteases. D. russellii venom contained both serine and metalloproteases. Only, T. malabaricus venom exhibited thrombin-like activity and induces fibrin clot formation with purified fibrinogen within 58 s. Even though D. russellii venom exhibits procoagulant activity, it did not show thrombin-like activity and may act on other coagulation factors.

Animals↗

Purification, cloning and biological characterization of a novel disintegrin from Trimeresurus jerdonii venom.

A novel disintegrin, jerdonin, was purified from the Trimeresurus jerdonii venom by means of gel filtration and reverse phase high pressure liquid chromatography. Its coding cDNA was also isolated from the venom gland. The jerdonin coding cDNA is part of a precursor composed of proprotein, metalloproteinase, and disintegrin domains. From the deduced amino acid sequence, jerdonin is composed of 71 amino acid residues including 12 cysteines and the tripeptide sequence Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD), a well-known characteristic of the disintegrin family. Molecular mass of jerdonin was determined to be 7483Da by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry. Jerdonin inhibited ADP- and collagen-induced human platelet aggregation with IC(50) of 220 and 240 nM, respectively. In vivo, jerdonin inhibited the growth of subcutaneously inoculated B16 solid tumor in C57BL/6 mice and improved the survival time of the tumor-bearing mice.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Amino acid sequence of a thrombin like enzyme, elegaxobin II, from the venom of Trimeresurus elegans (Sakishima-Habu).

The amino acid sequence of a thrombin like enzyme , named elegaxobin II, isolated from the venom of Trimeresurus elegans (Sakishima-habu) was determined by Edman sequencing of the peptides which was derived from digests with cyanogen bromide, achromobacter protease I, trypsin, endoproteinase Asp-N, and chymotrypsin. Elegaxobin II consisted of 233 amino acids and showed conservation of the catalytic amino acid residues (His(57), Asp(102), and Ser(195)) of chymotrypsin family serine protease in its amino acid sequence. The carboxyterminal amino acid, Leu, was determined using carboxypeptidase Y. This enzyme contains glucosamine and an N-linked glycosylation site. Elegaxobin II was 91% homologous in sequence to elegaxobin and protease I from the same snake venom, and it was 67, 75, 31 and 26% homologous in sequences to flavoxobin, KN-BJ 2, human kallikrein and bovine thrombin, respectively. Elegaxobin II lacked thrombin's ETW (146-148) loop, as well as its functionally important YPPW (60-insertion loop).

Amino Acid Sequence↗

TMVA, a snake C-type lectin-like protein from Trimeresurus mucrosquamatus venom, activates platelet via GPIb.

TMVA is a C-type lectin-like protein with potent platelet activating activity from Trimeresurus mucrosquamatus venom. In the absence of von Willebrand factor (vWF), TMVA dose-dependently induced aggregation of washed platelets. Anti-GP Ib monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), HIP1, specifically inhibited TMVA-induced aggregation in a dose-dependent manner. The aggregation was also inhibited by mAb P2 (an anti-GP IIb mAb). Flow cytometric analysis revealed that FITC-TMVA bound to human formalin-fixed platelets in a saturable manner, and its binding was specifically blocked by HIP1 in a dose-dependent manner. Flow cytometric analysis showed that TMVA did not bind to platelet GPIX, GPIIb, GPIIIa, GPIa, GPIIa and GPIV. Moreover, the platelet aggregation induced by TMVA was partially inhibited when platelet was pretreated with mocarhagin, a snake venom protease that specifically cleaves human GPIb. These results suggest that TMVA is a strong platelet agonist via GPIb and it might have multiple functional binding-sites on GPIb molecule or on other unknown receptor.

Animals↗

Molecular characterization of a weak fibrinogen-clotting enzyme from Trimeresurus jerdonii venom.

A fibrinogen-clotting enzyme designed as jerdonobin-II was isolated from the venom of Trimeresurus jerdonii. It differed in molecular weight and N-terminal sequence with the previously isolated jerdonobin, a thrombin-like enzyme from the same venom. The enzyme consists of a single polypeptide chain with molecular weights of 30,000 and 32,000 under non-reducing and reducing conditions, respectively. Jerdonobin-II showed weak fibrinogen clotting activity and its activity unit on fibrinogen was calculated to be less than one unit using human thrombin as standard. The precursor protein sequence of jerodonobin-II was deduced from cloned cDNA sequence. The sequence shows high similarity (identity=89%) to TSV-PA, a specific plasminogen activator from venom of T. stejnegeri. Despite of the sequence similarity, jerdonobin-II was found devoid of plasminogen activating effect. Sequence alignment analysis suggested that the replacement of Lys239 in TSV-PA to Gln239 in jerdonobin-II might play an important role on their plasminogen activating activity difference.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Amino acid sequence of a basic aspartate-49-phospholipase A2 from Trimeresurus flavoviridis venom and phylogenetic analysis of Crotalinae venom phospholipases A2.

Trimeresurus flavoviridis snakes inhabit the southwestern islands of Japan: Amami-Oshima, Tokunoshima and Okinawa. A phospholipase A2 (PLA2) of basic nature (pI 8.5) was isolated from the venom of Amami-Oshima T. flavoviridis. Its amino acid sequence determined by the ordinary procedures was completely in accord with that predicted from the nucleotide sequence of the cDNA previously cloned from Amami-Oshima T. flavoviridis venom gland, which was named PLA-B'. It consists of 122 amino acid residues and has aspartate at position 49. It induced edema in a mouse footpad assay and caused necrosis in mouse skeletal muscles. PLA-B' is similar in sequence to PLA-B (Tokunoshima) and PL-Y (Okinawa), both basic [Asp49]PLA2s, with a few amino acid substitutions, indicating occurrence of interisland mutation. Although PLA2s of Crotalinae subfamily were phylogenetically classified into four types, PLA2 (acidic or neutral [Asp49]PLA2) type, basic [Asp49]PLA2 type, neurotoxic [Asp49]PLA2 type and [Lys49]PLA2 type, it was ascertained that PLA2s of PLA2 type and [Lys49]PLA2 type are most essential as toxic components for Crotalinae snake venoms and that basic [Asp49]PLA2-type PLA2s are uniquely contained only in the venoms of T. flavoviridis species. Prediction of physiological activities of some PLA2s was made based on their location in the phylogenetic tree. Relationship of divergence of PLA2s via accelerated evolution followed by less rapid mutation and physiological activities was discussed.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Properties and cDNA cloning of an antihemorrhagic factor (HSF) purified from the serum of Trimeresurus flavoviridis.

Habu serum factor (HSF) is a metalloproteinase inhibitor that is isolated from the serum of habu snake (Trimeresurus flavoviridis), and it can suppress snake venom-induced hemorrhage. In the present study, the inhibitory property and fundamental structure of HSF were analyzed in detail. HSF inhibited all the hemorrhagic and most of the non-hemorrhagic metalloproteinases tested from the venoms of T. flavoviridis and Gloydius halys brevicaudus. HSF was extremely stable in a broad range of temperature and pH, and the treatments with a temperature of 100 degrees C or pH ranging from 1 to 13 barely affects its reactivity against G. halys brevicaudus H6 protease. Gel filtration chromatography revealed that HSF binds to the H6 protease with a 1:1 molar ratio. A secondary structure profile of HSF that was monitored by circular dichroism spectrum remained unvaried up to 2 M urea. The activity of HSF was stoichiometrically abolished by chemical modification with 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid and N-bromosuccinimide; this indicates that Lys and Trp residues in its sequence play a role in the inhibitory mechanism. In this study, the amino acid sequence of HSF that was obtained by cDNA cloning was identical to that reported previously, except for five substitutions. We concluded that these discrepancies reflect a difference in the places of capture of the snake specimens.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Active fragments of the antihemorrhagic protein HSF from serum of habu (Trimeresurus flavoviridis).

Certain snakes have antihemorrhagic proteins in their sera. Habu serum factor (HSF), an antihemorrhagic protein isolated from the serum of the Japanese habu snake (Trimeresurus flavoviridis) is composed of two cystatin-like domains (D1 and D2) and a His-rich domain, and it inhibits several snake venom metalloproteinases (SVMPs). The activity of HSF can be abolished by trinitrophenylation of Lys residues with 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid. Upon complex formation of HSF with SVMP, however, the loss of its inhibitory activity by the chemical modification was suppressed, and Lys(15), Lys(41), and Lys(103) residues in HSF were not trinitrophenylated. In order to identify the domain that is critical to the inhibitory activity on SVMPs, native HSF was digested with papain followed by cleavage with cyanogen bromide, yielding a low-molecular mass fragment that was composed of two peptide chains (residues 5-89 and 312-317) linked by a disulfide bond. This fragment inhibited several SVMPs and showed significant antihemorrhagic activity. This indicates that the N-terminal half of D1 is indispensable for the antihemorrhagic activity of HSF. Furthermore, a three-dimensional model of two cystatin-like domains constructed by the homology modeling has indicated that three Lys residues (15, 41, and 103) are exposed to the same surface of HSF molecule.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Conformational analysis of a toxic peptide from Trimeresurus wagleri which blocks the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor.

The 22-residue toxic peptide (WTX1) from the venom of the Southeast Asian snake Trimeresurus wagleri has multiple sites of action, but its lethal effect has been attributed to blocking the postsynaptic acetylcholine receptor at the neuromuscular junction. The 3-dimensional structure of WTX1 was studied using 2-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, circular dichroism, and computer simulations. In aqueous solution, WTX1 was shown to have extended and flexible "tails" defined by a short, rigid disulfide-bonded loop. The flexible regions can undergo structural rearrangement when moved from an aqueous to a less polar environment and may contribute to its effectiveness at different receptor sites. By substituting Gly or Phe for His at position 10, significant effects on the disulfide bond formation and, thereby, the activity of the peptide were observed. These results suggest that even subtle differences in single residues can have profound effects on the dynamics of folding, disulfide bond formation, and activity of this toxic peptide.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Structural elements of Trimeresurus flavoviridis serum inhibitors for recognition of its venom phospholipase A2 isozymes.

Five inhibitors (PLI-I-V) against Trimeresurus flavoviridis (Tf, habu snake, Crotalinae) venom phospholipase A2 (PLA2) isozymes have been isolated from its serum. PLI-I, which is composed of two repeated three-finger motifs, and PLI-IV and PLI-V, which contain a sequence similar to the carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD) of C-type lectins, were expressed in the forms fused with glutathione S-transferase (GST). The resulting GST-PLIs showed ability to bind to three Tf venom PLA2 isozymes. The binding study with the truncated forms indicated that one of two three-finger motifs of PLI-I was able to bind to PLA2 isozymes. The N-terminal 37-amino acid fragment and the CRD-like domain of PLI-IV and PLI-V were bound to PLA2 isozymes. On the other hand, their C-terminal 12-amino acid segment also associated with PLA2 isozymes. When either of two units of a hydrophobic tripeptide in this sequence was replaced by trialanine, the binding was completely abolished, indicating that the C-terminal hydrophobic cores of PLI-IV and PLI-V were critically responsible for the binding to venom PLA2 isozymes.

Animals↗

Nucleotide sequence of a cDNA encoding a common precursor of disintegrin flavostatin and hemorrhagic factor HR2a from the venom of Trimeresurus flavoviridis.

The venom of Trimeresurus flavoviridis has three disintegrins that act as platelet aggregation inhibitors by binding to integrin alphaIIb beta3 on platelets through its Arg-Gly-Asp sequence. We isolated the cDNA encoding the flavostatin precursor that is one of the disintegrins in T. flavoviridis venom. The open reading frame consisted of four regions, a pre-peptide region, a metalloprotease region, a spacer region and a disintegrin region, indicating that the flavostatin precursor belongs to the metalloprotease/disintegrin family. Surprisingly, the deduced amino acid sequence of the metalloprotease region was completely consistent with that of hemorrhagic metalloprotease HR2a, which indicated that this metalloprotease released from the flavostatin precursor functions as a hemorrhagic factor. These observations indicated that a disintegrin and a hemorrhagic metalloprotease were synthesized as a common precursor. Thus, our results support the hypothesis that a disintegrin is synthesized as a metalloprotease/disintegrin precursor and matures by cleavage from the precursor molecule.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Characterization, amino acid sequence and evolution of edema-inducing, basic phospholipase A2 from Trimeresurus flavoviridis venom.

Two phospholipases A2 (PLA2s) were purified from the venom of Trimeresurus flavoviridis (Crotalinae) inhabiting Tokunoshima island, Japan, and named PLA-A and PLA-B in the order of elution on a cation-exchange column. Lipolytic activities of PLA-A and PLA-B toward mixed micelles and liposomes were substantially lower than that of PLA2 (an [Asp49]PLA2) which had been isolated from the same venom. Both PLA-A and PLA-B consisted of 122 amino acids and contained aspartate at position 49 (the numbering according to the aligned sequences of PLA2s in Fig. 8), thus belonging to an [Asp49]PLA2 subgroup. PLA-A and PLA-B were identical in sequence with an exception at position 79. PLA-B contained Asn-Gly at positions 79 and 80 which are located in the beta-sheet region. On the other hand, PLA-A had beta-Asp-Gly and alpha-Asp-Gly in high and low proportion, respectively, at the corresponding positions which were produced from Asn-Gly through the base-catalyzed formation and hydrolysis of the succinimide type intermediate. Thus, PLA-A is derived from PLA-B. PLA-B is similar in sequence to PL-X, which had been purified from the venom of T. flavoviridis inhabiting Amami-Oshima island, Japan, and to PL-X', whose cDNA had been cloned from Tokunoshima T. flavoviridis venom gland, rather than PLA2. PLA-B showed strong edema-inducing activity, while PLA-A exhibited rather lower activity. The sequence around position 79 which constitutes a beta-turn segment seems to be crucial for edema-inducing activity. Phylogenetic tree of Tokunoshima T. flavoviridis venom PLA2 isozymes indicated that PLA-B and PL-X' diverged from PLA2 after branching of [Asp49]PLA2 forms and [Lys49]PLA2 forms.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Molecular cloning and sequence analysis of cDNA encoding flavoridin, a disintegrin from the venom of Trimeresurus flavoviridis.

We isolated a cDNA of 2001bp encoding the full-length precursor of flavoridin, which is one of the four disintegrins in the venom of Trimeresurus flavoviridis, and analyzed the cDNA nucleotide sequence. The deduced amino acid sequence of the open reading frame consisted of a pro-domain (190 residues), a metalloproteinase domain (205 residues), a spacer domain (18 residues) and a disintegrin (flavoridin) domain (70 residues), thus indicating that the flavoridin precursor belongs to the P-II class of snake venom metalloproteinases. The unknown metalloproteinase domain shared strong sequence similarity with HR2a (71.2% identity) and H(2)-proteinase (74.1% identity), a low molecular mass hemorrhagic metalloproteinase and a non-hemorrhagic metalloproteinase in the same snake venom, respectively.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Amino acid sequence of a thrombin like enzyme, elegaxobin, from the venom of Trimeresurus elegans (Sakishima-habu).

The amino acid sequence of a thrombin like enzyme, named elegaxobin, isolated from the venom of Trimeresurus elegans (Sakishima-habu) was determined by Edman sequencing of the peptides, derived from digests with cyanogen bromide, hydroxylamine, achromobacter protease I, trypsin, V8 protease, and chymotrypsin. Elegaxobin showed conservation of the catalytic amino acid residues (His, Asp, and Ser) of trypsin like serine protease in the amino acid sequence. The carboxy-terminal amino acid, Leu, was determined using carboxypeptidase Y. Elegaxobin consisted of 233 amino acids and had a calculated molecular weight of 25,439. Elegaxobin was 53, 59, 26 and 40% homologous in sequence to ancrod, flavoxobin, bovine thrombin and trypsin, respectively.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Characterization and cloning of a novel phospholipase A(2) from the venom of Trimeresurus jerdonii snake.

A phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)), called jerdoxin, was isolated from Trimeresurus jerdonni snake venom and partially characterized. The protein was purified by three chromatographic steps. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence or absence of dithiothreitol showed that it had a molecular mass of 15 kDa. Jerdoxin had an enzymatic activity of 39.4 micro mol/min/mg towards egg yolk phosphatidyl choline (PC). It induced edema in the footpads of mice. In addition, jerdoxin exhibited indirect hemolytic activity. About 97% hemolysis was observed when 2 micro g/ml enzyme was incubated for 90 min in the presence of PC and Ca(2+). No detectable hemolysis was noticed when PC was not added. Ca(2+) was necessary for jerdoxin to exert its hemolytic activity, since only 52% hemolysis was seen when Ca(2+) was absent in the reaction mixture. Furthermore, jerdoxin inhibited ADP induced rabbit platelet aggregation and the inhibition was dose dependent with an IC(50) of 1.0 micro M. The complete amino acid sequence of jerdoxin deduced from cDNA sequence shared high homology with other snake venom PLA(2)s, especially the D 49 PLA(2)s. Also, the residues concerned to Ca(2+) binding were conserved. This is the first report of cDNA sequence of T. jerdonii venom PLA(2).

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Purification and cloning of a novel C-type lectin-like protein with platelet aggregation activity from Trimeresurus mucrosquamatus venom.

TMVA, a novel C-type lectin-like protein that induces platelet aggregation in a dose-dependent manner, was purified from the venom of Trimeresurus mucrosquamatus. It consists of two subunits, alpha (15536 Da) and beta (14873 Da). The mature amino acid sequences of the alpha (135 amino acids) and beta subunits (123 amino acids) were deduced from cloned cDNAs. Both of the sequences show great similarity to C-type lectin-like venom proteins, including a carbohydrate recognition domain. The cysteine residues of TMVA are conserved at positions corresponding to those of flavocetin-A and convulxin, including the additional Cys135 in the alpha subunit and Cys3 in the beta subunit. SDS-PAGE, mass spectrometry analysis and amino acid sequence showed that native TMVA exists as two convertible multimers of (alpha beta)(2) and (alpha beta)(4) with molecular weights of 63680 and 128518 Da, respectively. The (alpha beta)(2) complex is stabilized by an interchain disulfide bridge between the two alpha beta-heterodimers, whereas the stabilization of the (alpha beta)(4) complex seems to involve non-covalent interactions between the (alpha beta)(2) complexes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗