María Laura Fernández, Pablo Yunes Quartino, Ruth Arce-Bejarano, Julián Fernández, Luis F Camacho, José María Gutiérrez, Daniel Kuemmel, Gerardo Fidelio, Bruno Lomonte
A unique feature of the venom of Micrurus fulvius (Eastern coral snake) is its ability to induce severe intravascular hemolysis in particular species, such as dogs or mice. This effect was previously shown to be induced by distinct phospholipase A2 (PLA2 ) isoforms which cause direct hemolysis in vitro, an uncommon finding for such enzymes. The functional profiles of PLA2 -17, a direct hemolytic enzyme, and PLA2 -12, a co-existing venom isoform lacking such effect, were compared. The enzymes differed not only in their ability to cause intravascular hemolysis: PLA2 -17 additionally displayed lethal, myotoxic, and anticoagulant actions, whereas PLA2 -12 lacked these effects...
April 2018: Toxicology Letters