BIOCHEMICAL STUDIES ON THE TOXIC NATURE OF SNAKE VENOM.
Abstract
Studies on the chemical properties of cobrotoxin have established its amino acid composition, and revealed that the toxin has a single peptide chain of 62 amino acids cross-linked by 4 disulfide bonds with amino terminal leucine and carboxyl terminal asparagine. In comparison with the entire sequence of toxin alpha from the venom of Naja nigricollis the similarities obviously must lie in its alike chemical structure. Knowledge of the sequence of cobrotoxin is required in order to understand the location of the essential amino acid residues required for the maintenance of the active conformation of this type. It is the purpose of this experiment to present the sequence of amino acids in cobrotoxin. As a prerequisite for this study the reduced and S-carboxymethylated cobrotoxin was digested with trypsin and chymotrypsin. The resulting peptides were separated and their amino acid sequences were determined largely through the application of the Edman degradation technic. From the results of this investigation, the 62 amino acid residues of cobrotoxin have been placed in sequence. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1969
- Accession Number
- AD0685456
Entities
People
- Chen-chung Yang
Organizations
- Kaohsiung Medical University