Summary
There has been no previous report indicating whether thrombin-like enzyme is contained
in the venomof Trimeresurus flavoviridis whichhas the strongest toxic effect in the
case of Habu bite. The presentstudy was undertaken to clarify the existence of thrombin-like
enzyme in Trimeresurus flavoviridis venom. As a starting material, lyophilized crude
venom of Trimeresurus flavoviridis was used, and ammonium sulphate fractionation,
gel filtration using Sephadex G-25, Sephadex G-150 and arginine-Sepharose affinity
chromatography were carried out to separate and purify a thrombin-like enzyme from
the crude venom. The enzyme was purified to a 137-fold increase in specific activity
and the purified preparation revealed a single band on SDS-PAGE. The molecular weight
of the enzyme was estimated to be 65,000-70,000 daltons by means of SDS-PAGE and gel
filtration, and its isoelectric point was pH 4.5-5.5. Furthermore, the optimal pH
of the enzyme was in the range of pH 8.0 to 8.5. Some of the differences in enzymatic
properties between this enzyme and bovine thrombin were studied. The snake enzyme
could coagulate only rabbit plasma and convert only purified rabbit fibrinogen to
fibrin gel. In addition, this thrombin-like enzyme released only fibrinopeptide A
from purified rabbit fibrinogen and did not release fibrinopeptide B.
Key words
Thrombin-like enzyme - Fibrinopeptide A - Snake venom(T. flavoviridis)