| Agkistrodon halys is one of several dangerous snake species in Iran. Among the most important signs and symptoms in patients envenomated by this snake is disseminated intravascular coagulation. A thrombin-like enzyme, called AH143, was isolated from Agkistrodon halys venom by gel filtration on a Sephadex G-50 column, ion-exchange chromatography on a DEAE-Sepharose and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on a C18 column. In the final stage of purification, 0.82 mg of purified enzyme was obtained from 182.5 mg of venom. The purified enzyme showed a single protein band by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), under reducing conditions, and its molecular mass was found to be about 30 kDa. AH143 revealed clotting... |
