Effects of snake venom proteins on blood platelets.
Snake venoms are complex mixtures which contain pharmacologically active polypeptides and proteins. Several snake venom constituents interfere in platelet aggregation, an important cellular process in thrombosis and hemostasis. These components range in size from small molecular weight polypeptides to high molecular weight proteins. Some of the proteins are enzymes, such as phospholipase A2, proteinases, nucleotidases, or L-amino acid oxidase, while others do not exhibit enzymatic activity. These components may initiate and/or inhibit platelet aggregation. Some venom factors induce platelet agglutination. This review deals with the physical characteristics of these venom factors, the mechanisms of their platelet effects, structure-function relationships, and their physiological significance.
Kini
R M
RM
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond 23298.
Evans
H J
HJ
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D010450:Endopeptidases / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010741:Phospholipases A / Q000378:metabolism; D054467:Phospholipases A2; D010974:Platelet Aggregation; D012910:Snake Venoms / Q000633:toxicity*; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
D012910:Snake Venoms; D010741:Phospholipases A; D054467:Phospholipases A2; D010450:Endopeptidases