78] Phosphodiesterase from snake venom

Abstract

Phosphodiesterases have been isolated from a variety of snake venoms as well as other sources. In many cases these enzymes have not been thoroughly characterized because of difficulty in obtaining homogeneous preparations. Observation has been made that dithymidine 3', 5'-thiophosphate was resistant to action by snake venom and to spleen phosphodiesterases, the chapter attempts to couple a thiophosphate diester to agarose with the intent of using this system for the purification of phosphodiesterases. The chapter attempts the purification of the diesterase from Crotalus adamanteus venom by the same procedure. Affinity chromatography alone yielded a purification of about 5-fold as compared to 30-fold with Bothrops atrox venom. The combination of phospho cellulose and affinity chromatography resulted in a purification of about 100 although the enzyme was not homogeneous.