Purification and evaluation of the interference of BthMP (a metalloprotease from Bothrops moojeni) in blood clotting

Abstract

In the present was work reported the purification of the metalloprotease BthMP, from the venom of Bothrops moojeni. For purification of the protease was used ion exchange chromatography (DEAE-Sepharose) and molecular exclusion (Sephadex G-75), the product of these processes was a protein band with high purity, visualized on SDS-PAGE 14%, referred the BthMP. This protease when analyzed on MALDI-TOF revealed the molecular weight of the native form of 23.050 Da and 23.872 Da in the reduced form, and from the peptide fragments obtained by Peptide Mass Fingerprinting (PMF) in MS (MALDI-TOF/TOF) was observed high similarity with BmooMPα-I metalloprotease. In enzymatic terms, BthMP showed proteolytic activity on azocasein using PMSF and benzamidine, while this activity was inhibited in the presence of EDTA; 1,10-Phenanthroline and β-mercaptoethanol, it is therefore a zinc-dependent metalloprotease of the class P-I. To still with this purpose, we contemplate its enzymatic specificity of the Aα and Bβ chains of fibrinogen and also the consumption of fibrinogen in vivo. It was also found its action on the components of the coagulation cascade, due to prolongation of prothrombin time and partial thromboplastin time. Thus, the sharp fibrinogenolytic activity and the high consumption of fibrinogen in vivo are results that indicate the anticoagulant action of BthMP; furthermore, their ability to interfere with the coagulation cascade suggested that this protease is promising for future studies that might indicate a new antithrombotic agent model.

Keywords

• Coagulation cascade
• Metalloproteinase
• Venom snake