title: Purification and properties of arginine esterases from Bitis arietans (puff adder) venom.
abstract: An arginine esterase (FT1) was purified from B. arietans venom by gel-filtration and ion-exchange chromatography. The purified enzyme contains 21.6% of carbohydrate, 240 amino acids including 12 half-cystine residues and has a mol. wt of approximately 43,000. The purified enzyme has a high esterolytic activity towards N-alpha-benzoyl-L-arginine ethyl ester but shows no proteolytic activity against Azocoll and no clotting activity with fibrinogen. The N-terminal sequence of the arginine esterase from B. arietans venom shares a significant degree of sequence homology with the arginine esterase of B. nasicornis, the thrombin-like enzyme of C. adamanteus and the kallikrein-like enzymes of C. atrox venoms. It would appear that the arginine esterase from B. arietans venom exists in various multiple forms of the enzyme.
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002265:Carboxylic Ester Hydrolases / Q000032:analysis* / Q000145:classification; D002848:Chromatography, DEAE-Cellulose; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D004589:Electrophoresis, Disc; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000032:analysis*; D008970:Molecular Weight; D014757:Viper Venoms / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D007527:Isoenzymes; D014757:Viper Venoms; C019724:arginine esterase; D002265:Carboxylic Ester Hydrolases