title: Purification of a vascular apoptosis-inducing factor from hemorrhagic snake venom.
abstract: Hemorrhagic snake venom induces apoptosis in vascular endothelial cells specifically. We report here the purification of an apoptosis-inducing factor from the venom of the rattlesnake Crotalus atrox. The purified factor was a homodimeric protein with a molecular mass of 110 kD and an isoelectric point of 8.5. When exposed to the factor, vascular endothelial cells in culture died, with the characteristic features of apoptosis, such as fragmentation of cells and cleavage of DNA into fragments that yielded a characteristic ladder pattern upon electrophoresis. The activity seemed to be specific to endothelial cells. This factor may prove to be a useful tool for studies of the molecular mechanisms of vascular apoptosis.
authors.affiliation: Sugashima Marine Biological Laboratory, School of Science, Nagoya University, Mie, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Masuda
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Araki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kaji
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hayashi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002847:Chromatography, Agarose; D003435:Crotalid Venoms / Q000737:chemistry*; D017839:Crotalus; D019281:Dimerization; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D007526:Isoelectric Point; D008970:Molecular Weight; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology; D014471:Umbilical Veins
chemical_list: D003435:Crotalid Venoms; D011506:Proteins