Biomaterial Database

Biochemical characterization of atroxase and nucleotide sequence encoding the fibrinolytic enzyme. 1996

A T TU, and B Baker, and S Wongvibulsin, and T Willis

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 80523-1870, USA.

Atroxase, isolated from the venom of Crotalus atrox (western diamondback rattlesnake), is a non-hemorrhagic protease which has fibrinolytic activity in vitro and in vivo. Fibrin solubilization occurs primarily from the hydrolysis of alpha-polymer and unpolymerized alpha- and beta-chains. The enzyme also cleaves the A alpha-chain of fibrinogen first, followed by the B beta-chain, and shows no effect on the gamma-chain. Although crude venom induces platelet aggregation, atroxase demonstrated no ability to induce or inhibit aggregation. Intravenous administration of atroxase at a dosage of 6.0 mg/kg resulted in thrombolysis within 1 hr followed by recanalization. The primary structure of atroxase was deduced from the cDNA encoding the atroxase protein. The venom glands of C. atrox were used to prepare a cDNA library. Degenerate oligonucleotides were synthesized based on the partial amino acid sequence of atroxase and were used as primers in the polymerase chain reaction to amplify overlapping cDNA fragments from the C. atrox cDNA library. The resulting cDNA fragments were subcloned, sequenced, and translated. The final nucleotide sequence shows high homology to previously described primary structures of non-hemorrhagic fibrinolytic proteases isolated from snake venom. The base sequence of cDNA obtained from colony hybridization also showed comparable results to the cDNA fragment amplified by PCR.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008666	Metalloendopeptidases	ENDOPEPTIDASES which use a metal such as ZINC in the catalytic mechanism.	Metallo-Endoproteinases,Metalloendopeptidase
D008969	Molecular Sequence Data	Descriptions of specific amino acid, carbohydrate, or nucleotide sequences which have appeared in the published literature and/or are deposited in and maintained by databanks such as GENBANK, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBRF), or other sequence repositories.	Sequence Data, Molecular,Molecular Sequencing Data,Data, Molecular Sequence,Data, Molecular Sequencing,Sequencing Data, Molecular
D003435	Crotalid Venoms	Venoms from snakes of the subfamily Crotalinae or pit vipers, found mostly in the Americas. They include the rattlesnake, cottonmouth, fer-de-lance, bushmaster, and American copperhead. Their venoms contain nontoxic proteins, cardio-, hemo-, cyto-, and neurotoxins, and many enzymes, especially phospholipases A. Many of the toxins have been characterized.	Bothrops Venom,Crotalidae Venoms,Pit Viper Venoms,Rattlesnake Venoms,Crotactin,Crotalid Venom,Crotalin,Crotaline Snake Venom,Crotalotoxin,Crotamin,Pit Viper Venom,Rattlesnake Venom,Snake Venom, Crotaline,Venom, Bothrops,Venom, Crotalid,Venom, Crotaline Snake,Venom, Pit Viper,Venom, Rattlesnake,Venoms, Crotalid,Venoms, Crotalidae,Venoms, Pit Viper,Venoms, Rattlesnake,Viper Venom, Pit
D005343	Fibrinolytic Agents	Fibrinolysin or agents that convert plasminogen to FIBRINOLYSIN.	Antithrombic Drug,Antithrombotic Agent,Antithrombotic Agents,Fibrinolytic Agent,Fibrinolytic Drug,Thrombolytic Agent,Thrombolytic Agents,Thrombolytic Drug,Antithrombic Drugs,Fibrinolytic Drugs,Thrombolytic Drugs,Agent, Antithrombotic,Agent, Fibrinolytic,Agent, Thrombolytic,Agents, Antithrombotic,Drug, Antithrombic,Drug, Fibrinolytic,Drug, Thrombolytic,Drugs, Antithrombic
D000595	Amino Acid Sequence	The order of amino acids as they occur in a polypeptide chain. This is referred to as the primary structure of proteins. It is of fundamental importance in determining PROTEIN CONFORMATION.	Protein Structure, Primary,Amino Acid Sequences,Sequence, Amino Acid,Sequences, Amino Acid,Primary Protein Structure,Primary Protein Structures,Protein Structures, Primary,Structure, Primary Protein,Structures, Primary Protein
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D001483	Base Sequence	The sequence of PURINES and PYRIMIDINES in nucleic acids and polynucleotides. It is also called nucleotide sequence.	DNA Sequence,Nucleotide Sequence,RNA Sequence,DNA Sequences,Base Sequences,Nucleotide Sequences,RNA Sequences,Sequence, Base,Sequence, DNA,Sequence, Nucleotide,Sequence, RNA,Sequences, Base,Sequences, DNA,Sequences, Nucleotide,Sequences, RNA